Wind Dance
by Yappie
Summary: Let's see. First she gets into a shipwreck, then she got a slight (or maybe not) memory loss, after that she lives with Ace and Luffy, then she gets kidnapped by a pirate crew (who actually taught her how to fight quite effectively), and then escaped after 3 years and now she's in a darn submarine. "And where the hell did my katana go? There's two of them, two!" LawXOC
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: If I had control over the world of One Piece, I would pair Law up with a girl. Yes I'm a diehard fangirl of Law. I mean which human girl wouldn't fall for his badass attitude and sexiness? Okay point is I don't own One Piece, only the OC.

AN: Well this is my very first fanfic. I don't know why I had this sudden urge to pen down all my imaginations about Law having a female companion. So BAM I decided to create an account late in the night and start on my first fanfic.

* * *

"Mai!"

The 14 year old girl turned to the source of the voice, only to see Ace and Luffy dragging a dead wild boar behind them.

"We brought back dinner. Get Dadan to cook it." Ace left the boar near the entrance of the bandit shack and strolled into said shack. "Food! Food!" The younger Luffy cheered and followed after Ace.

The girl simply stayed rooted at where she was and stared at the enormous boar. Now, if she was living with a normal family with a normal stomach, she would be shocked at the sheer amount of food that can be cooked with such a large animal. But oh no. She was definitely not living with a normal family with a normal stomach.

She was living with the Dadan Family.

A family of mountain bandits.

A family of mountain bandits with appetites that can rival those of a monster.

Then again when the girl thought about it, the real monsters were Ace and Luffy. Those two, ages 16 and 13 respectively, had appetites that were probably hell much bigger than a giant. Every meal in the mountain shack was never peaceful. One way or another it will always become a food fight between the other bandits living in the shack and the two mini monsters.

It was amazing how Dadan, the boss of the mountain bandits, managed to keep her sanity intact despite the never-ending rowdiness in the shack. She was constantly driven up the wall thanks to Ace's and Luffy's antics. And she would be further driven up whenever Garp decided to give the bandit family a surprise visit ,which fortunately for Dadan, was almost never since the old man was so busy with his duties as a Marine.

The girl heard footsteps coming from the shack and turned around once again, this time her eyes meeting two of the bandits working for Dadan, Dogra and Magra. Both of them stared at the boar lying on the grass, jaws slightly hanging open. Then they turned to look at the girl, who simply quoted Ace and told the both of them to "get Dadan to cook it" before walking in to the shack.

* * *

The girl, Mai, was a rather quiet girl. Unlike the other girls her age in Foosha Village, she did not like wearing skirts and dresses. Or any other girly looking clothes for that matter.

"I don't like them. They restrict my movements." Those were her exact words to Makino when she came over to give the girl some of her old clothes. She preferred wearing shorts and a normal T-shirt or tank tops.

The girl also liked learning how to fight.

"You'll never know when you may need some self-defence." Said girl always liked the idea of handling swords. Well too bad the nearest she ever gotten to was the unused pipes that Ace and Luffy used whenever they were out either hunting for dinner or they were at the nearby town picking fights. She never knew why they loved picking fights with gangs at the town, but she dismissed the thought and just assumed it had something to do with guys and their ego.

Lastly, the girl could not cook anything to save her life. Unfortunately for Dadan.

When she first moved in to the family, Dadan thought she could teach the girl how to cook so that the girl could take one of her jobs off her shoulders. So when the girl turned 11, Dadan decided she was old enough to learn how to cook. During her first attempt, things went well, until Dadan left her to her own devices. "Add in some soy sauce after ten minutes. I'm gonna go out for a smoke or two. Call me back when you're done." The girl nodded and Dadan walked out of the shack.

The girl started looking through the shelves, looking for a bottle which she hoped has 'soy sauce' labelled on it with large letters. And luckily for her there was one such bottle sitting on the shelf. She took the bottle and waited for ten minutes, before dumping- oh wait. How much was 'some soy sauce'?

_'Oh never mind. They are not going to realise if I add in too much. So long as it's edible they won't care.'_ With that she proceeded to dump half of the bottle's content into the pot and stirred the brew with a ladle. What she didn't realise was that on the other side of the bottle 'Soy Sauce' was cancelled and below the cancelled words someone wrote 'Black Pepper Sauce: Extra Spicy'. And by extra spicy, they meant the spiciness of stuffing 1000 chilli in your mouth at the same time. Although the only one who could probably do that was Luffy since he could stretch his mouth.

Well whoever decided to change the soy sauce bottle into a black pepper sauce bottle was obviously not smart enough to change the label on the other side of the bottle. Then again the same could be said to the girl.

Dinner that day was, well, rather eye-tearing. Even Luffy who was thought to be able to eat anything stopped eating after his first mouth. His first, big, mouth of food.

At first Dadan thought it was just a mistake, so she decided to write down another stew recipe on a piece of paper, with all the instructions and the amount of each ingredient written down. She gave the paper to the girl and once again, left her to own devices after warning her to make sure she checked each bottle thoroughly before pouring anything into the pot. Well this time, she did check each bottle properly. But that was before she somehow blew up the kitchen, which caused part of the wooden shack to get caught on fire. Thankfully many of the bandits were hanging around near the shack to put out the fire.

Ever since then the girl was not allowed to touch a single cooking equipment.

Basically, if a stranger were to describe the girl in a word, they would say she was a tomboy. A rather shy one at that. However only the bandit family and her foster brothers knew she had a girly side, just that it was rarely shown. She made sure she was neat in her usual attire and looked presentable, hair tied up neatly into a ponytail. She felt the need to look decent since she was the only female living in the shack other than Dadan.

Although she was always neat in the morning, by dinner time, she would look tired. Dirt can be seen everywhere on her clothes and any exposed skin after her daily training with the brothers and hunting for dinner in the forest. Strains of hair would stick out randomly on her head.

Yep. Definitely a half tomboy.

* * *

Where this girl came from, no one knew. Four years ago Garp came back for one of his surprise visits, and decided to leave another child under Dadan's care.

"You have gotta be kidding me! I can't take care of another brat! This is not a child care centre!"

"Well then, here's your choice: either you take care of this girl," Garp was going to make it explicit that Dadan did not have a choice in this matter. Because she herself knew what Garp's next words are going to be, and no matter how much she hated the idea of taking care of another brat, she was never going to pick the second choice. "or, you can go to prison. Simple as that." And that, was how the girl ended up being the foster sister of Ace and Luffy.

Ever since the girl joined the family, Luffy had been bugging her endlessly about where she came from. "Hey hey! So where did you come from?! How did you end up with Garp?!" "I don't know... I can't remember where I came from." "Try to remember! So how did you end up with Garp?!" Luffy asked once more with his usual excited grin. "He found me lying on the coast of the island and he took me in." Ace then decided to join in the conversation, "Was it a shipwreck?" "I think so."

Ace decided that was enough for his curiosity, the same can't be said for Luffy though. He would continue to ask about her past, which every time she replied "I can't remember." and Luffy would just tell her "Remember harder!" Most of the time Ace would save her by dragging Luffy away.

She remembered the first time Luffy got dragged away, she stayed inside the shack and stared into thin air, imagining how was her life like before she lost her memory. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Luffy shouting something along the lines of "I'm gonna beat you today!" followed by the sound of running and fighting.

The girl walked out of the shack and saw a rather beaten up Luffy and a smug-looking Ace sparring with each other. "Wow…" She never caught herself being so fascinated by anything before –then again she lost her memory, but she had this feeling that she was never this fascinated before- and immediately asked Ace if he could teach her how to fight as well, since he was the stronger one out of the two.

Let's just say Ace was more than happy to teach her how to fight, saying how when she is older she can follow him out to the sea when he finally becomes a pirate. Of course Luffy objected it, saying "No way! She would join my crew instead!" The girl laughed softly at the two brothers as they begin to fight over who she would join. "I…will think about your offers." She gave the both of them a small smile, stopping the brothers from their argument. And that, was how the girl ended up learning how to fight.

* * *

The girl had fun during her stay with the Dadan family. Everyday was an adventure with her two brothers. Shortly after Ace's 17th birthday, he finally decided to leave the island and start his pirate career. Ultimately, the girl decided she was still too young to leave the island, so she decided to stay behind and set sail with Luffy when he was old enough.

That day never came.

Few months after Ace's departure, the girl was having her morning walk in the forest and well, just happened to stumble upon a swirly looking fruit. The swirly fruit –as the girl had dubbed it- actually looked appetising. The sky blue swirly fruit had the same shape as a banana, but oddly enough it didn't look like there was any skin to be peeled off. _Well I'm hungry anyway so why not. _With that thought she took a bite of the delicious looki-

"This thing tastes like shit!" The girl grimaced after she swallowed the fruit and desperately tried to get the taste in her mouth to go away. While she was trying to get rid of the after taste she heard someone walking towards her, followed by a man gasping.

"What have you done girl?! Do you have any idea what you've just eaten?!"

Said girl turned around and saw a man with a strong build looking baffled at what she had just done.

"I ate a fruit that tasted like shit? If you want it you can have it. Just don't eat it unless you want to lose your sense of taste."

"Why the hell would I eat it when it no longer has any use! Now it's just a normal disgusting fruit!"

"You mean it's not a normal fruit?"

"Of course it isn't you idiot! That's a devil fruit! The one you ate is the kaze kaze no mi. It allows one to control and manipulate the wind."

"Oh." Now that she thought about it, she actually did feel somewhat lighter…

"Yes. Oh. And I'm afraid you'll need to come with me quietly to the ship. Our captain will decide what to do with you there."

"Excuse me? I'm not leaving this island thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me-" Before the girl could complete her sentence the man ran up to attack her. He lifted his arm to deliver a punch, which the girl caught with her hands.

She certainly had her fair share of fights after years of training with Ace and Luffy, and she was definitely not a damsel in distress. But the guy she was fighting now definitely had more experience than Ace, she could tell. His movements were much faster and stronger than Ace's and she was having trouble keeping up.

Before she could give the guy a roundhouse kick, he used the side of his hands and hit her behind the neck, causing her to pass out. The man picked up her limp body and carried her to his captain's ship.

* * *

When the girl woke up, she found herself on the floor with her hands tied up. She looked around the room she was help captive in. "Seems like a small bedroom…" The floor made out of tiles designed to look like wood, and the walls were painted was a dresser with a mirror on the right side of the room. On the left wall of the room there was a desk that seemed glued to the wall. Next to the desk was a bed that also looked like it was glued to the furthest wall of the room. Quaint.

"Well so much for having a bed. If they're gonna leave me lying on the floor they might as well not have the bed here." The girl grumbled under her breath. The girl tried standing up but ended up losing her balance when she felt the floor rocked beneath her.

Wait. What?

The door behind her creaked open and the girl quickly scrambled to her feet, only to see the guy that kidnapped her was leaning against the door frame. "You finally awake eh? Captain would like to see you now, follow me."

_'Well I'm screwed'_

She followed him up the stairs, right turn, right turn, more stairs, left turn, and the guy finally stopped in front of a door. "C'mon, in you go." She knocked on the door twice before she heard a low voice saying "come in" before she turned the handle and walked into the room. It was another bedroom, except it was way much larger and grander than the room she was kept in.

At the far end of a room she spotted a blonde man sitting on an office chair behind the desk. His elbows were on his desk, and he was resting his chin on top of his intertwined fingers. He had a rather fair skin complex, wearing a tight shirt that showed of his toned body, with a vest to complete his top. As far as she was concerned, she couldn't see what pants he was wearing. He looked somewhere along his early thirties, if she had to take a guess.

She finally looked at his eyes, they were light blue. They were glaring at her. She felt like he was judging her, scrutinising her. Then again, she had just ate a devil fruit that was meant to be his. But if anything, it was his damn fault for making his men leave the fruit in the forest just like that. Finders, keepers is the rule that applied to her. Losers, weepers is the rule that applied to the captain. Not that he was currently weeping but oh well.

Once again, it was his damn fault.

"I hope you do realise that you have done something that would make any pirate more than just unhappy."

"If anything, mister, you should be angry at your men for leaving that fruit out in the forest just like that. They should be more careful." '_the next time. If there is a next time.' _She thought to herself.

His glare harden at her words, but slowly he started smirking. Smirking at what, the girl didn't know.

"Well since you've eaten the fruit, I guess I should just make you work for our crew. There's no use in killing you anyway. Chances that I'll even find the same fruit again is next the zero. I've heard from Miles that you do have a bit of a fight in you. Along the way you can train yourself to help us increase our strength. Welcome to the Gringham Pirates. I am your captain, Justin Gringham." He gave her one final smirk and said "Oh and don't worry about your fellow crewmates, they won't harm you. Dismissed." She was shocked. Very shocked.

The girl went back to her room, right turn, down the stairs, left turn, left turn, down the stairs again and arrived at her new room. On her way back she looked out of one of the windows, and saw the vast ocean staring back at her. _I knew it. _On the bright side she has her own room instead of sharing bunks with the guys. "Well at least I can have my own privacy…"

She dropped flat on the bed and could not help but to think back to the conversation she had with Luffy just last night before they went to bed.

_"Hey Mai, have you remembered anything about your past yet?"_

_"Nope. Nothing…"_

It was a lie and she knew it. She finally remembered something a year after she moved in with the Dadan Family. She was a noble. And she hated her life then. That explained why she hated girly clothes and loved fighting. But she still could not remember the exact details of how her life was then. She knew that no matter what she wouldn't tell Ace and Luffy about her past.

That would remind them about Sabo, the boy that Luffy told her about a few months after she moved in.

Well other than that, there was one more thing she remembered. Two actually.

First one was her father constantly telling her that "one should never fully trust anyone, and to always be cautious about everyone around you." '_Damn straight, Dad.' _Second one was a quote that she read before, but she couldn't remember where she had read it.

**_'I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.'_**

* * *

Well I guess this marks the start of my very first work. I actually feel my first attempt is not half bad if I do say so myself. Those of you who know where the quote came from, good for you! It is from the poem 'Invictus'. There is also a movie titled 'Invictus' and sure enough, the poem played a huge part in the movie. My english teacher showed us this movie after our exams, and that's how I came to know of this quote. When I thought about starting my own fanfic, I told myself that I just HAD to include this quote in so here you go!

Reviews are welcomed!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own One Piece. Just Mai.

Guys, I honestly have no idea where this story will go or end up in.

At first I was so motivated to add one more LawxOc story into the OP fandom, but well, you know, teenage laziness? Yeah. That. I've got the overall plot written down somewhere, but I still have no idea of the exact details on how this story is going to be. Asides laziness, I also haven't been keeping up with the anime lately, and even if I did, I always skip the boring parts, especially scenes containing loads of talking. So it'll take me some time to look back at past episodes as part of "research" (all of a sudden I feel like Jiraiya when I said research). Until then, expect really slow updates. Meanwhile you guys can entertain yourselves :D

Moving on!

* * *

Mai stared at the mirror.

Her straight, raven hair that reached mid-back was tied up into a high ponytail. Her bangs that were touching her eyebrows were combed towards the left. Shorter strands of hair that could not be tied up framed her face.

Her onyx eyes were staring at her own reflection. Her eyes did not look soulless, but hell, she felt like her soul could escape from her body any moment now. But her eyes definitely did not hold the same liveliness that she had while she was still living with the Dadan Family. Hell, she got kidnapped by pirates because of one tiny mistake –not so tiny to the captain, however- and she was forced to work for them. Of course she was going to lose part of herself.

However, that did not mean Mai did not do anything to entertain herself during her stay. Oh no, she did quite a number of things to keep herself sane and entertained.

Usually at the expense of the crew's sanity. Especially Miles.

Not that Mai hated him or anything, but since he was the one that kidnapped her, she was going to make life a living hell for him as long as she was with the Gringham Pirates. Who could blame her? There was once she decided to play a 'prank' on him and on the rest of the crew. Childish? Yes. But it was oh-so worth it. And she definitely got her desired reaction from her poor victims. Not that the crew would have any other reactions, because in her prank, she planned it such a way that she was very sure there would only be one reaction. What did she do, you ask?

Well, she thought it might be nice to actually cook dinner for them, you know? Since they treated her quite decently despite being kidnapped. Well, for pirates, they were already quite decent to Mai anyway. But how they treated her is a story for another time.

Now, as we all know, Mai plus kitchen would result in something disastrous. This time she did not blow up the kitchen, as that will defeat her purpose of cooking dinner. She remembered one of Dadan's stew recipes, and decided to create her own stew based on that recipe. She did not do much, really. Just replace some ingredients with something weird and whatnot and tada! One serving of disaster coming right up!

The reaction of the crew? Pained faces as they rushed to the toilet. How she managed to convince the cook to let her cook dinner, no one knew. But convinced the cook she did, and she executed the plan perfectly, so everything was a-okay for her. She felt so accomplished, using her weakness to her advantage.

* * *

It had already been three and a half years since she got kidnapped. Since then she had gotten much more stronger, thanks to the rigorous training she was given since day one. Courtesy of Captain Gringham, one would say. If there was one thing she was happy about being with Gringham Pirates, it would be the fact that their captain actually granted her wish to learn how to fight with swords. She settled with learning how to wield dual swords and a single sword, just in case she dropped or lost one she still had the other sword to rely on. Even if she lost both swords, she could always use her devil fruit powers.

She also managed to hone her hand-to-hand combat skills. She had probably sparred with everyone in the crew at least once, save for the captain. Even though she did improve, she was still not strong and fast enough to beat Miles. That cheeky bastard. But give her the sword, and she could beat the living daylights outta him. Did that give her so much satisfaction.

Not much could be said about the progress of her devil fruit. Since no one in the crew had devil fruit powers, she had no one to practice her wind powers with. Whenever she had free time, she would lock herself in her room and experiment around with her powers. Although it was a bit dangerous since there was this one time she almost sliced through the wall when she flicked her wrist towards said wall. Obviously Captain Gringham was not happy about it, but she promised she would not damage anything on the ship again. And she kept that promise really well.

And then yesterday happened. They docked on an island to restock on their supplies. While they were on the island, Mai went to a secluded area and tried to test the extent of her powers. When she did that, she was pretty sure she was in an abandoned area of the land. Even if she did damage any property, the habitants of the island should not be too bothered by it. After all, she was just flicking her wrist and doing some kicks on what seemed like ruins of a small town.

So why the hell were there Marines running to the ruins after five minutes of practice?

She even went as far as to ask quite a few of the citizens if she could practice in the abandoned area, and all of them said it was fine since nobody lives in that area. "Darn those Marines. Making such a big fuss out of nothing." Mai probably could not see that if there was a sudden chaos in the ruins out of the blue, that would definitely cause the Marines to panic. Thanks to those Marines she had to make a quick escape back to the Gringham Pirates. Thank goodness she managed to lose them halfway.

Unfortunately for our poor wind manipulator, she gotten herself a bounty of 1 million beli. 1 million just for destroying a few empty buildings. Now that is just ridiculous. When or how the Marines took a picture of her was a mystery. Since the Marines did not know her name, they nicknamed her as 'Wind Sorceress' on her bounty poster.

Today, after they left the island, a News Coo delivered a bunch of bounty posters to the Gringham Pirates, and as you would have guessed by now, Mai's poster was among the bunch.

"…" The blonde captain really did not know how he should react to the poster. He had told her specifically to stay away from the Marines.

"Captain?" Miles, who delivered the poster to the Captain, stood rooted at his position. He was expecting the order soon. _'Com'on Captain. Say it. Say "Bring Mai here. Now." You know you want to.'_

"Miles. Bring Mai here. Now."

_'Aw yeah!'_ "Yes sir." Miles was having a lot of trouble keeping his grin in, and the captain could tell.

* * *

When Miles brought her up to the captain's quarters, Mai did not want to know what on earth the captain wanted from her. She did her jobs on the ship properly. Laundry in the morning, wash the dishes after breakfast, training for three hours, after which she had to wash the dishes again after lunch, then go and sweep or mop the floor, or just screw it all and relax, and finally, she would have to wash the dishes (again.) after dinner AND clean up all the mess the crew would make in the mess hall. Dinner was always the messiest for some reason. It had always been like that even when she was staying with Dadan.

When she entered his quarters, she saw him leaning against his desk. She walked up to him and stopped a few feet away from him. She would never admit it, but she was actually quite afraid of the captain. However, she stood strong and firm. There was one skill she picked up after living here, and that was how to put up a strong façade. She never saw the need to put up a mask in the Dadan Family. But now that she was with a bunch of pirates that she was uncomfortable with, a brave front was necessary, no matter how scared she was.

Despite all the training she had, there was always this nagging feeling at the back of her mind that the captain was a hell lot more stronger than what he appeared to be. Even with the wind under her command, she may not be able to beat him. There were so many opportunities for her to escape, but she did not take those chances. She knew. She knew if she attempted to escape, she would fail, no doubt. The crew would drag her back to their captain, and then Justin would probably torture her. Usually that was the capital punishment for anyone in the Gringham Pirates who dared to defy him. If they were really unlucky that day, they will get tortured to the brink of death. If they were really lucky, they would only get an increased workload. That rarely ever happened though. Yes, the captain was quite merciless towards his own crew.

For some reason Mai always managed to escape the short end of the straw and only got her workload increased (thus the constant after-meal duties). Maybe the captain just wanted her alive and kicking to benefit the crew? This time, however, Mai had a feeling she would not get so lucky like previously.

The captain walked up to her and shoved the poster in her face. She stared at it. She was not surprised one bit at all. _'For goodness sake, we're in the Grand Line already. I'm surprised that it took more than two years to have my own bounty. Can't blame the blondie though. He would always make me sit out in every fight. Not that I'm angry and complaining about it.'_

"Do you mind explaining yourself, Mai? And I want a good explanation on why you defied my orders to stay clear from the Marines while you're at it. There is only so much of your defiance that I can tolerate, whether they were intentional or not, yes?" His voice was calm. Too calm. Eerily calm. The type that literally screamed "Calm before the storm".

Mai gulped and bit the inside of her cheek. She knew. She knew no matter how good and reasonable her explanation was, this time she could not escape.

She knew that this time, she pulled the short end of the straw.

Her brave front was slipping away.

The crew could hear her agonised screams from the captain's quarters.

* * *

"Hey! Octopus, Starfish," Sanji's voice called out, before his voice turned so sweet it would give anyone diabetes, "Camie! If you want a break then come up to the deck. I'll give you a cup of tea."

Hachi, Pappag and Camie then proceeded to the deck of the Thousand Sunny, where they were served tea. As Hachi savoured his cup of Japanese green tea, Camie was looking at the map, pointing out the route to the Straw Hat's next destination, which would be Sabaody Archipelago. Usopp peered over Camie's shoulder, taking a look at the map. "We can't get to Fishman Island without going there first?"

"Fishmen and Mermen can just dive straight down to get there. But you guys are humans, so if you tried to dive down there the pressure would kill you!" Hachi explained before taking another sip of his tea.

"Indeed. Even the submarine couldn't reach it." Franky recalled when Robin, Brook and Luffy took a trip underwater with the submarine, hoping that they would come across Fishman Island. However their endeavour ended up as a failure when they could not find the island after going beyond the submarine's limit. Franky's hand reached his chin in thought, "How are we going to make it there?"

Pappag then decided it was his time to shine like the star he is. "Alright, pay attention! It seems like you don't know anything, so I'll tell you a thing or two about these seas!" He turned around and faced the sea before someone commented sarcastically "Huh? Who is going to do that?"

"That. Would. Be. Me!" Papagg turned around again to look at everyone's reaction, only to be disappointed when he saw everyone was engaged in their own conversations and no one was listening to him anymore. "Uh… would you please listen?"

Once Pappag received everyone's undivided attention, he explained the two possible ways to cross the red line, one would be gaining permission from the World Government, the other would be the Ocean-floor Route.

Pappag was cut off abruptly when Camie commented on how the Ocean-floor Route was dangerous as there were many pirates eaten up by sea monsters and sea kings along with their vessel. Camie then explained that there is a hole somewhere along the wall of the Red Line, and that hole would lead to Fishman Island. But before they can go there, they had to coat their ship at Sabaody Archipelago as the hole was ten thousand metres below sea level.

With a smile, Camie ended their conversation. "You'll understand when we get there."

When the Straw Hats and their three guests arrived at the Archipelago, they were amazed at the mangroves and all the bubbles floating around without popping.

The moment they docked on Groove 41, Luffy immediately set out for the island, excited to explore as usual. When he saw the bubbles coming out from the ground, he jumped on the bubbles without second thought, not seeming to care if the bubbles will pop or not, and again, as usual.

Once Luffy reached the highest bubble, he called out to the rest of them on the ground. "I can see an amusement park over there! Let's go! Let's ride the ferris wheel!" Luffy pointed somewhere to his East side. Chopper and Camie were as equally excited to go to the amusement park, but Camie was stopped by Pappag when she mentioned how it was her dream to ride a ferris wheel.

"Don't be ridiculous! You can't do that, Camie!" Pappag exclaimed.

"Yeah… I know." Camie replied with a dejected look on her face, before walking away from Chopper with her shoulders slouched. When Chopper saw Camie's reaction, he must have mistaken it as "It is impossible for anyone to ride the ferris wheel", because his next words are "I want to ride it too, but I guess I can't."

The gang -other than Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Franky who stayed behind in the Thousand Sunny- proceeded on with their journey to Grove 13. _But before that..._

"We have to find a coating mechanic, and have him coat your ship with the resin. Simply put, that will enable your ship to travel under the sea! I know one trustworthy mechanic so I'll take you there," Hachi explained their task on Sabaody Archipelago, before continuing with a grim voice, "however, we may run into World Nobles, known as Tenryuubito, while we're in the city. No matter what may happen in the city, I want you to promise that you won't lay a hand on the World Nobles. Even if someone were to be killed right before your eyes, pretend that you didn't see anything!" After Hachi's stern warning, the group set out for Grove 13, in search for the coating mechanic.

* * *

Here ya go, that's it for chapter 2! I would write more, but I don't wanna get killed by my mum for staying up till 3 am doing god-knows-what. I think I may start updating maybe around once a week, but since it's our school break now I don't know how often I can update once school reopens. For now I guess it's slow and easy. I was trying to make Justin look really bad and evil, but I have a feeling that I'm doing quite badly at it. Oh well.

Oh and just a little trivia for all of you: I actually came up with the Gringham name when I thought about Islets of Langerhans. Those of you studying biology should know what it is. And actually the Gringham part came from Langerhans. I know they sound and look completely different but I dunno. When I thought about Langerhans I suddenly had inspiration. Don't ask me how or why.

Reviews are welcomed!


	3. Chapter 3

If my teachers and/or my mum ever finds out that I have the time to write stories but not do my homework, they would kill me. But I'm pretty sure my English teacher would be more than happy to find out that I've taken up an interest of writing. Well too bad for her, because I'm still not gonna do her homework.

That aside, I would like to thank MsWildLuck, QuestionsxAndxAnswers, Koshuu, Lilikoikoi, Skooter918, Traffy, WaddlingLemon, Wolvesnightmare, loveredhairedshanks, sea198, Mugiwara Luffia, Padfoot Dawne, Skooter918, Traffy, mangafreak811, sleepyPrincess, wolfscry248, xxRyuu-himexx, Weirdness'P, HesperideIsis, MeowzDJ and lastly, the anonymous guest who reviewed/followed/favourited (is there such a word?) this story. Thank you for giving motivation to the Asian writer (yours truly) to continue with this story, and I hope you'll stick with me till the end. Which by the way, I'm hoping to finish this story by this year if possible, if not next April. Because next year I'll be so busy with my fellow classmates preparing for our national exams that I won't have the time to do any updating.

Disclaimer: I only own Mai, unfortunately.

Anyway, here's the next chapter!

* * *

Their trip to Grove 13 was _extremely eventful._

First Hachi rented three Bon Charis for transportation. A Bon Chari is simply a bicycle like vehicle that is stuck on to one of those bubbles made of special resin in the Archipelago. Poor Hachi had to deal with Luffy and Chopper whining about why they could not buy them, which he explained that the bubbles will pop once they leave Sabaody Archipelago, so there's no point in buying them.

Next Luffy, Chopper and Brook went to a Graman store –a store selling Manjuu- and each of them ate one plate worth of Graman samples. Brook even had the nerve to ask for another plate. Luffy ended up purchasing six boxes of Manjuu, Chopper bought a key chain, and Brook bought himself a pennant.

Meanwhile, Nami and Robin got separated from the others and went to a nearby shopping mall. "They said they'll leave the coating to us" Camie explained to Luffy on their behalf.

And now, Hachi and Luffy were having a Bon Chari race.

"Yeah! I'm leading!"

"Nyuuu I won't lose! There's still a long way to go!"

"Go Hacchin!" Camie cheered for her octopus friend.

"Why? When did this turn into a race?!" Chopper shrieked as he clung onto the Bon Chari Luffy was riding in for his dear life.

"Yohohoho!"

They sped off merrily, until they reached a small town in Grove 31, where a horrific sight met their eyes. A man, around twice the height of an average human, was making a fuss in the middle of the street, while the people there just stared at him, backing away whenever the man approached anyone of them. "I wanna go home! Please, I beg you!" The man was desperate, very desperate.

"Don't get involved, he's probably a pirate who was captured by kidnappers and sold as a slave," Hachi's advice was most likely directed towards Luffy, since he was always impulsive with his actions. "his owner probably brought him to this island, and he made a run for it." Hachi's face turned to those of a mixture of solemn and anger. "He should know that it's useless to run!"

Luffy was now confused with Hachi's statement. "Eh?"

Just then, a ticking sound came from the man, specifically the metal ring around his neck. The man's face paled immensely, and for some reason everyone near him started to run away, leaving frightened screams in their wake.

"W-what's that sound?" Chopper asked.

"Damn it! This ring!" The man started tugging at the metal ring, trying to get it off. "If I could just get this ring off me!" Upon hearing that, Camie and Pappag squeezed their eyes shut, fully aware of what was to happen to the man in a few seconds.

The ticking quickened.

Five.

"I don't want this!"

Four.

"Stop, stop it!"

Three.

"I… I!"

Two.

"DAMN IT!"

One.

_**BOOM!**_

The ring exploded, leaving the man severely wounded, blood trickling down from his temples, right eye, nostrils, and everywhere from his body. The man was barely alive, and uttered out something. "Let me buy some souvenirs and go home... I don't want to be a pirate anymore…" He gave one final smile, before he collapsed.

As if on cue, a group of people, with two of them clad in white robes and a bubble mask around their head, the male of the two was holding on to a chain, which was connected to a large man –a much, much, larger and muscular than the one that collapsed- with a similar metal ring around his neck. Beside them there was a guard who was completely covered in his armour. The bystanders immediately got to their knees, lowering their heads when the group walked past them.

"Is that… a Tenryuubito…" Luffy uttered to himself. "You too, lower your head!" Hachi hushed at Luffy, using his hand to make Luffy face downward. "Whatever you do don't meet their eyes!" He glanced at Chopper and Brook, who were still standing. "You guys too!" "Ok." They replied in unison.

When the group got close enough to the unconscious man, they stopped in their tracks. The woman in white robes looked at the man, and spoke up. "Alas… Dearest father, yet another has been ruined."

"Did you ensure to give him his tranquilliser every day?" The father asked. "Of course. But is has little effect on fools." She replied, slowly making her way towards the man on the ground. "You simply have to buy another."

"Your disciplining skills are truly terrible," The man retorted, "ruining my captain collection one after another."

"This one is certainly useless now," The woman kicked the man twice, "family this, family that, even grown men are crying for them." She spat at the unconscious man, even though he could not hear her. She continued kicking him.

Luffy was having a lot of trouble keeping himself in control. He wanted to give those screwed up bastards a good punch or two for being so arrogant, picking on those who cannot even defend themselves anymore.

The woman then took out a pistol, "Frankly, this sickens me." and fired at the man twice.

_That's it. _That was the last straw for Luffy. He completely lost it and almost jumped at that bitch with the intention of messing up her face so bad-

"Wait, please!" Hachi begged, grabbing Luffy just in time before he could do anything rash, and covered his mouth to prevent him from insulting the Tenryuubito. After the lady was done, the Tenryuubito slowly retreated back to the route they came from and the Marines suddenly appeared to tend to the severely wounded captain.

After all that commotion, Luffy, Hachi, Chopper, Brook, Camie and Pappag went to a less crowded area of the Archipelago to cool themselves down. "That pirate, I'm sure he could beat up that old man and girl like nothing. Why?" '_Why didn't he defend himself?'_

"If you hurt a Tenryuubito, you'll just find yourself targeted by the Marine army led by an admiral." Pappag replied grimly, still sickened at what they had just witnessed.

"WHA-" Well at least now Chopper knows why. "But what makes them so special?"

"Eight hundred years ago a group of twenty kings formed a mighty organisation known as the World Government. The Tenryuubito are their descendants. But over the years, they have come to abuse their incredible influence, leading to what you've just saw." Pappag explained.

As they discussed about the arrogant world nobles, they did not realise that a group of bounty hunters were targeting them as their source of income. Well needless to say, the bounty hunters attacked them, but Luffy, Brook and Chopper managed to knock them out without breaking a sweat. Oh wait, Brook is a skeleton so he can't sweat! Yohohoho!

* * *

"Captain! We're currently in between Area 10 and Area 50 of Sabaody Archipelago. Should we dock now?"

Justin nodded at his crewmate. "Prepare to anchor the ship!" The man ran out of the captain's chamber. Justin could barely hear said man repeating his orders to everyone else, followed by the crew running around the ship, knowing what their respective duties are. Justin stood up from his seat behind his desk and walked out of his room with a certain destination in mind. Right turn, down the stairs, left turn, left turn, down the stairs again.

He stopped in front of the door, pulled out a key and unlocked the door. The sight of Mai being held captured in her own room was so pleasant to the Gringham captain. She could no longer cause any damage or trouble. In fact, the captain thought she was more of a burden than a help, but because of her wind powers, it made her a _valuable asset _to the captain. With a sadistic smirk on his face, he approached Mai.

Mai had no idea how long she had been kept in there. It felt like a month, although it was only a week. And during that one week, her hands and legs were restrained by chains. Justin would come in around the same time of the day. To torture her. He would take out his sword, or dagger, and give her a few scratches her and there, before stabbing her a few times. But the stab wounds were very shallow. Not enough to kill her, but definitely enough to cause pain.

Every single time he injured her, she tried not to scream, she tried to look strong even though the captain had already seen her break. She kept chanting '_**I am the captain of my soul, I am the master of my fate'**_, thinking that it will help her to withstand the pain somehow.

She was stubborn in her own way. Usually she would keep quiet when the Justin scratched her, squirm a little when he cut open an old wound, and would start yelping once the stabbing started. After the torture session, she would be left alone in her room again. Justin did not want the crew's doctor to heal her. _He was going to push her until she could not take it anymore._

By the time the third day came, she could no longer feel anything. The numerous wounds made her whole body feel numb, and she could barely move. However the numbness would always fade away when the captain came back to torture her again, only to feel twice the pain she usually felt.

For a week she was tortured. She was given the bare minimum amount of food, just enough for her to survive. She was locked in her room, her movements restrained. The blood from her wounds dried on her skin. She was _sore. She was tortured physically and mentally. _But there was no way in hell the captain would get her to break mentally. Never.

'_I may not be a master at pain, nor am I good at hiding my fear, but I will get out of this hell hole one day and find Ace or Luffy.' _With this resolve in mind, Mai prepared herself to receive another barrage of pain.

The captain's hand was itching to reach either for the sword resting on his side, or the dagger strapped around his thigh. But the torture would have to be out on hold today. Instead, he removed the chains binding her hands and legs. He needed her to be well enough to walk for a whole day.

"Get up. You're going out with us today" Mai stared at the captain, who still had the sadistic smirk on his face. She was trying very hard to hide her surprise. "Wash up and bandage yourself. Be up in the deck by thirty minutes." With that, the captain walked out of the door. Mai continued to stare at the door after Justin left, not believing her own ears for a moment.

Snapping out of her daze, she stood up slowly to prevent as much pain as possible. She gathered a new set of clothes, a cream-coloured spring sweatshirt and a pair of denim shorts. Mai made her way to the shower cubicles as fast as she could in her current state, retrieving alcohol and a roll of bandages on the way. Within ten minutes she was done washing off the dried blood, and dabbed herself lightly with a towel. She then applied alcohol on her wounds, ignoring the stinging pain that felt almost like a slight tap compared to the damage Justin inflicted on her. _'Now, for the bandages…'_

Mai stared at the bandages for a moment. How on earth was she going to get the bandages all around her without causing too much pain?

"Oh screw it I'm already in pain so let's just get this over with." Mai deadpanned and started wrapping the bandage around her left leg, followed by her right. Next she bandaged her torso all the way up to her chest area, and finally bandaging her arms. She then looked at her bandaged self. _'I look like a mummy.' _She grimaced slightly at the thought. Well at least the clothes helped her to look more like a human. She put on her outfit, tucking the sweatshirt in her shorts before going back to her room.

When she returned to her room, she dried her hair before tying it into her favourite high pony tail. With five minutes left to spare, she put on her black combat boots (yes she went out barefooted in a rush) and made her way up to the deck, where Justin, Miles, and two other men she saw around the ship were talking about something.

'_The sunlight never felt this good before.' _Mai thought as she walked towards the captain. "There you are. Let's move out to Sabaody Archipelago. There are some matters that needs to be taken care off before we can move on to the New World." He handed Mai her twin katana which he took away from her during that week, his sadistic look still stuck on his face. Mai strapped both blades on her left side, grateful that she was allowed to have her weapons back.

"Miles, Jon, Zaki, go look for him like I told you too. Mai, you'll be coming with me to… well, let's just say it's a local attraction. You know what will happen if you run away don't you?"

It sent a chill down her spine when Justin said that, and she almost frowned. Almost. But she kept it in, not wanting to give satisfaction to the captain. "Bahahaha! Let's go." The captain gave one final roar of laughter before going to the Archipelago, with Mai following after him, keeping her distance away from the sadistic captain as she glared at his back. The other three men had already sped off to look for "him".

They docked at Grove 51, and they were heading for Grove 1, according to what Justin told her. Their trip to Grove 1 was long and uneventful. They had been walking for close to two hours already. They had occasional breaks, either resting on one of the mangrove roots, or going to a café or tea house. Was Justin feeling so generous today that he actually did not torture her today, brought her out of the ship and now he is buying her drinks? _'Naaah.'_

During their journey they had to stop once or twice when they encountered a Tenryuubito in the town to you-know-what.

"… Why do we need to bow down to them?" Mai asked herself, and even if Justin heard her she was not expecting to get a reply from him. "They are World Nobles, descendants of the people who created the World Government. They're just a bunch of stupid people who probably don't even have the smarts to answer what is one million times zero." He turned to look at Mai, who was expecting to see a sadistic expression. Instead, Justin looked rather amused.

"Anyway, just give them the respect they deserve," his voice was dripping with sarcasm when he said 'respect', "and they will leave you alone. Simple as that. Let's go. We've still got approximately three hours to go before we reach Grove 1." He stood up from his resting spot on the mangrove root and started to walk, not bothering to wait for Mai, knowing that she'll follow anyway despite the amount of pain she was in.

Now, if only Mai knew what was in Grove 1.

* * *

When Luffy and the others reached Grove 13, Hachi led them to a bar –Shakki's Rip-off Bar- which was resting on a mangrove root. "Hachi… this place seems like a total rip-off…" Pappag complained after he saw the Bar's name. Hachi walked towards the entrance, where there was an 'Open' sign on in. "Seems they're open." He proceeded to open the door, and called out: "Rayleigh, Shakki!"

When he opened the door, he saw a tall woman who had tan skin, with short ebony hair, bangs just above her black eyes, and a cigarette sticking out of her mouth. "Welcome. What can I do for you?" She then stared at Hachi, before she smiled. "Oh my. Could it be, Hacchan? Long time no see! It's been at least ten years since I last saw you, hasn't it? Just sit down and wait. I've gotta finish extorting the money out of these boys here." Her head gestured to the guys that were lying on the floor and the one she was grabbing by his collar.

She beat the guys up until there was blood shed, causing Chopper and Pappag to pale. After she was done beating the three guys up, she threw them out of the bar and they landed at the foot of the stairs leading to the bar.

Once that was done, Shakki got herself acquainted with Camie and Pappag while catching up on the good ol' times with Hachi. Meanwhile Luffy and Brook raided her refrigerator and started snacking, and Chopper was enjoying the cotton candy he received from Shakki.

"You want Rayleigh to help Monkey-chan and his crew get their ship coated, right?" Shakki asked Hacchi. "That's right."

"But he hasn't been back for half a year now."

"Half a year?!" Brook and Chopper exclaimed.

"I suppose it's just how ex-pirates are. Once they leave they won't return for a long time." Shakki explained, taking a puff of smoke.

"The old mechanic is also an ex-pirate?" Luffy asked. "That's right." She replied. "If you're gonna look for him, he should probably be somewhere between Grove 1 and 29. If he's not there… he also likes going to Sabaody Park."

"The amusement park?! Alright! We'll look there!" Luffy, Chopper, Brook and Camie cheered, finally having a reason to enter the amusement park. Although our fellow starfish is a little bit unhappy at the idea of entering the amusement park.

"Anyway, wherever you go to look for him, be careful." Shakki's words caused the cheering to come to a sudden halt. "According to my information, now that you've arrived, there should be eleven people on Sabaody Archipelago with bounties exceeding 100 million beli. Not counting Monkey-chan and Roronoa-chan, there are nine others."

Luffy, Chopper and Brook were now listening attentively to what Shakki had to say. "When you entered the Grand Line, there were seven paths you could take and you chose one of them, and have been following the Log on that path ever since, right?" Luffy nodded, confirming Shakki's statement to be true.

"Of course, there are also people who chose one of the other six routes. No matter what route you take, each of them will eventually lead to the Red Line. And to get past the Red Line, everyone comes to this Archipelago. It's pretty amazing that all of the world's rookies managed to show their faces here at the same time. In particular, there's Kid, Luffy, Hawkins, Drake and Law. These names have been decorating the newspapers some time now." Shakki took another puff of smoke, before tapping her cigarette lightly above the ashtray to allow the ash to fall off.

"I don't read the newspapers." Luffy told Shakki. She chuckled lightly. "Knowledge is power. You should at least learn the names of your rivals." She gave Luffy a wink, then named the other nine rookies.

"Capone "Gang" Bege. Bounty: 138 million beli.

"The Glutton" Jewelry Bonney. Bounty: 140 million beli.

"The Mage" Basil Hawkins. Bounty: 249 million beli.

"Roaring Tide" Scratchmen Apoo. Bounty: 198 million beli.

Eustass "Captain" Kid. Bounty: 315 million beli.

"Red Flag" X-Drake. Bounty: 222 million beli.

"Mad Monk" Urouge. Bounty: 108 million beli.

"Massacre Soldier" Killer. Bounty: 162 million beli.

"Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar Law. Bounty: 200 million beli."

She lighted up another cigarette, and elaborated further more on the 11 Supernovas, and how one of them may be a leading figure for pirates. After resting up for a few moments, they decided to visit the amusement park to look for Rayleigh (and to have fun).

"We're off to look for the old mechanic dude!" Luffy rode off in his Bon Chari with Chopper, with Hachi, Brook, Camie and Pappag following behind.

* * *

Sabaody Park is truly a sight to behold. It entrance was built to resemble a majestic castle, and the bubbles floating around gave the amusement park a magical touch to it. One does not even need to enter the amusement park to hear people screaming, enjoying the adrenaline rush that came along with the thrills of the rides available.

And obviously, searching for the coating mechanic was not on Luffy's priority list now. Nope! They're going to have some fun! Unfortunately the only one who had their priorities set straight was Pappag, whose plea for Camie to not enter the amusement park was fallen upon deaf ears. Well too bad for Pappag, his priority list got mixed up after riding the roller coaster.

Next they went to a Merry-Go-Round, followed by the Drop Tower (which Brook mistook as a slow ride), then the Spinning Teacups (they finally broke something) and finally, the Ferris Wheel.

"This is the first time I've been to a place as high as this! Hacchin and Pappag let me come here because you guys are so strong! I'll remember this for the rest of my life, Thank you!" Camie thanked Luffy while they're still in the Ferris Wheel, before turning back to look at the bird's-eye-view of Sabaody Park. Luffy just gave his trademark grin.

After visiting a few more amusement park attractions, they decided to take a break. Luffy, Chopper and Brook entertained themselves with a balloon mascot, while Hachi and Pappag left to buy more snacks. They left Camie alone on the Bon Chari.

Unbeknownst to Camie, one of the men in the last group of bounty hunter who attacked Luffy saw that Camie had fins, and not legs. And now, the boss of this bounty hunters was setting his sights for Camie. Just thinking about the amount of money he could earn by selling the mermaid to the Human Auction house made him giddy in the head.

Putting on his bear mascot disguise, he approached Camie.

* * *

I think I'm developing a pattern of taking 2 days to finish writing one chapter. Not so much of Mai today, but hey, Law is finally mentioned! Also, I'm actually trying to get Mai's character to be similar to mine, since this is my first story and I'm already involving an OC, so in a way I'm kind of putting myself in the story. Basically, I'm trying to make Mai someone who is very strong willed but at the same time she's not. Not gonna give away too much for now, so go figure out that part yourself :D

**TRIVIA TIME!**

Manjuu originated from China, where it's called Man Tou. And if you write Manjuu/Man Tou in their respective languages (either way you will get 饅頭), the first character means steamed bread/dumplings and the second character means head. So put them together you get 'steamed bread head'. Funny eh?

Anyway, Manjuu are just buns filled with some sort of paste, which I think the most popular would be red bean paste. Just a guess. But there are two types of Man Tou. The first type is a steamed bun and it is usually filled with a pork broth or something of that sort. The second type is a deep fried bun. Usually my family, friends and I eat it with some random sauce that is available at that point of time, but eating the fried bun alone is heavenly enough. You need to try them at least once in your life. Have I mentioned that they are heavenly?


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys I'm back with another chapter! And an early one since I can't be bothered with homework. Third week into our June break, and I have only completed one assignment out of seven. I think I need some serious help here.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda.

* * *

"We're here."

Mai was walking behind Justin while she was spaced out. Justin's voice snapped her out of her daze. _'My habit of spacing out will be the cause of my death sooner or later.' _But hey, at least when she was spaced out it seemed as though time went by faster and her injuries didn't hurt as much. When her mind was wide awake and very aware of her surroundings everything was much more painful to handle. Even if they were attacked halfway –which happened many times while they were on their way to Grove 1– Justin would usually notice the enemy before her, and would knock them out first before Mai could even draw out her katana. Not that she was planning to, since she wanted to avoid any rigorous movements for now. Justin would not let her die anyway since he had somehow implied that he would be the one to kill her, and he would not allow her to get killed by anyone else.

When Mai refocused herself, she saw herself standing in front of a large building. The building was painted pastel blue, with ivy growing around it. There were many tall arched windows next to one another. The roof was made out of red tiles, and above the red tiles was a straw roof that resembled those of a cottage. Resting on the tiled roof was a wooden sign that read 'HUMAN'. The entrance of the building was just below the sign, a tall arched hallway that had a door at the end, leading people inside. Right at the entrance of the building was a large crowd of people, waiting to enter that building.

Mai turned to look at Justin with a silent question in her head. _'What's this building for?'_

Justin somehow read her mind again, and said "When we enter you'll find out." With a sadistic grin, Justin walked towards the arched entrance.

As the both of them were walking down the hallway, Mai noticed all the people who were in the building were dressed up formally, as if they were attending an important social event. Mai felt quite out of place for a moment. The ladies were wearing gowns or dresses, and the men were donned in their suits, with a cape draped on their shoulders. She immediately switched back to her space out mode to block out any stares directed at her or any comments about her choice of clothing.

Once Mai and Justin entered the door, Mai was brought out of her space out mode for two reasons. First, it was very dim inside. There were a few lamps at the side to guide people, but it was still quite dark, as if they were in a concert hall. Secondly, the change in temperature was drastic. Being surrounded by mangroves made the air humid and warm. But the building was a _gigantic freezer. _Mai felt like she was a slab of meat waiting to be taken out of the freezer to be chopped up into tiny pieces for cooking. _'Thank the heavens for the bandages to keep me warm.'_

Mai felt rather self-conscious all of a sudden. She had nothing to be afraid of actually, but she rested her left arm on the two katana strapped on to her torso, just to make herself feel better. She followed Justin down the steps, before turning left to settle down on the velvet red seats next to the aisle.

"Heh. Looks like we have two rookies in the house today." Justin was definitely going to enjoy himself. _'Two pirate rookies in the Human Auction House. Let's see what kind of trouble they will stir up.'_

Mai looked at Justin, hoping that he would explain what were the 'rookies' that he spoke of. But seeing how he was just smirking while looking at the stage, it seems like she was not going to get any explanations from him. _'I guess I'll find out myself all in due time.' _Mai thought to herself, slightly irritated that she felt like she was kept in the dark about something.

* * *

Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death, was not disappointed one bit at all when he and his crew arrived at Sabaody Archipelago. He witnessed the fight between The Mad Monk and The Massacre Soldier first hand, and he had no idea if he should be amused with the battle or if he should start planning on how he should defeat them should he encounter them in battle somewhere in the New World. Too bad the battle was rudely cut off when Drake decided to interfere. But for now, he was going to enjoy the show.

He is now seated on the second row from the entrance of the Human Auction House, next to the aisle. His right leg crossed over his left, and his arms resting on the backrest. On his left was Penguin, while Shachi and Bepo were sitting one row behind him, with Bepo holding on to his precious nodachi. Like everyone else in the premises, he was waiting for the show to start. Not that he was going to buy himself a slave or anything. He wanted to see what kind of hobby the Flamingo Schichibukai has taken up.

He would not waste good money on slaves when he could use that money to restock their supplies instead. No, he was just here for entertainment, to see how cruel and inhumane some people can be. Maybe if he was lucky he could kidnap one or two of such heartless people and experiment on them…

"Captain, look at them." Penguin pointed at a tall blonde man and the girl behind him with her arm placed on the two katanas strapped to her left side. Law glanced at them as they went two rows in front of where he was seated, allowing him to see their side profile.

"Ah. That must be Justin Gringham-ya, Captain of the Gringham Pirates. If I remember correctly his bounty is 250 million. But who's the girl?" Law asked, not recognising the raven hair girl with two katanas. "Her bounty poster was on the newspaper one week ago. Apparently she destroyed quite a number of buildings last week and now she has a bounty of 1 million beli. The Marines called her the 'Wind Sorceress' since they don't know her name. She looks very pretty..." Penguin blushed when he commented on the girl's looks.

"Hn." Law stared at the girl for one moment, before he heard someone talking loudly at the back. "-the villians of the world seem much more honourable. When scum rules the world, only more scum is born. You don't even understand that? At least we're honest about being bad people, right Killer?"

'_Oh? Killer-ya? That probably means the one speaking just now must be Eustass-ya.' _Upon the realisation, Law smirked to himself, and continued to eavesdrop on their conversation. "You're right." The man, which Law assumed was Killer, replied. "How about we buy anyone who seems interesting?" Kid laughed after he said that, as though he was amused at himself.

This time, Law heard a different voice speaking. "Chief Kid, look at that." _'Heh. So I was right.' _Law thought smugly to himself. "I know that face." Kid replied. "It's the 200 million man from North Blue, Trafalgar Law."

"I heard some bad rumours about him." Kid replied to the third man. _'Well, if they're so nice to talk about me within earshot, maybe I should greet them.' _Law was way beyond amused now. He tilted his head back and looked at the side, smirking at himself. When his eyes landed on Kid, his smirk widened, and he gave Kid the middle finger. When he saw Kid glaring at him, he turned away and focused on the stage again, smirk still plastered on his face.

"His manners are bad too." _'You're one to talk, Eustass-ya.'_

* * *

While everyone was waiting for the auction to start, Camie was struggling against the three men who were carrying her to the backstage, trying to get them to release her. She groaned in protest repeatedly when the men just continued to carry her with a tight grip. "Let me go! That hurts!" She continued to struggle, thinking that it would help with her escape somehow.

Next to her was a large cell room, which was the holding area for those who were captured and were sold for slavery. All the people in there had the explosive metal ring around their neck. They all stared at the floor as Camie shouted at the men and attempted to get free. Deep inside, they all had the same thoughts. _'There's no use struggling.'_

"I said let go of my hands! No!"

One of the men finally got irritated with her struggling, and shouted at her. "Hey, stop fighting! We can't tell how big your neck ring needs to be!" The finally placed her on the floor, in hopes that she will stop struggling and make their job easier for them.

_Clank, clank clank, clank_

When Camie looked up, she saw another of those men dressed up in a pink jester costume approaching her with the metal ring in his hands. When she saw the metal ring, her eyes widened as she remembered how the metal ring exploded in the town, and started fighting against the men restraining her. "No! Hacchin!"

"Why… this one! If you don't want to get hurt then stay st-" the man was interrupted when a man behind him spoke up.

"Hey, don't be so rough with such an important item!" The man approached them, with his hands behind his back. Just by looking at his face, he seems rather kind but… "Disco-san!"

"Oh, so this is the one? The mermaid that just came in…" He stopped in front of Camie before squatting down. He looked at Camie for a second, before he used his right hand and grabbed her by the side of her face, turning her head so he could inspect her. "How rare! She seems lively and healthy! We should fetch quite a high price for this one! Who brought her here?" The man, Disco, sounded very pleased. "The Hound Pets." One of the pink jester replied.

"Peterman, huh? He's done a great job." He stood up from his squatted position, before continuing. "Doesn't seem like the Flying Fish Riders brought in anything this time, though. Well regardless, this one should bring in quite a lot of money." He turned and looked at Camie, who glared at him before she stook out her tongue as an insult.

Disco's face darkened, and he slapped Camie across her face so hard that the impact sent her flying. "What's with that face?!" Disco growled at Camie. "Why you!" He shouted at Camie, walking towards her and raised his leg to kick her. But just when he was about to do so one of the jesters held Disco back. "You're just a damn fish! Know your place!"

"Wait, Disco-san! She's an important item! If you hurt her, her value will drop!" The jester exclaimed, throwing Disco's earlier words right back at him. "If you have to kick her, then at least do it somewhere where her clothes will cover it, like her stomach!" _'I've had enough of this!' _Disco is beyond livid now. He pushed the jester aside and glared at the mermaid, who just provoked him further.

"Hacchin will definitely come and beat you up!"

"She still has the nerve to talk back to me…" Disco barely said that through gritted teeth. "Hey! Give me the ring!" He yelled at one of the pink jester.

The jester passed him the explosive metal ring, and Disco glared at it, although his anger was directed towards Camie. "I'll put this on her." His entire being was shaking in anger. The jester held her up and locked her arms to make Disco's job easier. When Disco approached her, she started fighting back again just like before.

He stuck the front of the metal ring to her neck, and an evil laugh escaped his lips. But just before he could close the ring around her, he started gagging all of a sudden, and his pupils were nowhere to be seen in his eye. He fainted and fell on his back, mouth still open. When the three pink jesters realised that Disco has been knocked out cold, they started panicking. "Just when the show is about to start!" "Doctor! Get the doctor!" They ran off to get a doctor in their panicked state, leaving Camie alone on the floor.

Just behind Camie, a giant who was captured as well, opened his eyes, and looked down to the man on his right. "Hey, gramps. Quit pretending. That was you, right? That Haki just now. Who the hell are you?"

The man beside the giant chuckled, before he replied. "Just an old man who coats ships." He took out a metal bottle from his cape, the chains connected to his metal ring collided together and produced a clanking sound. He unscrewed the cap and gulped down whatever is inside the bottle. "I simply love young girls." His eyes moved to look at the giant beside him, although he could not see his expression.

* * *

A good fifteen minutes have passed since Mai and Justin were waiting in the Human Auction House. _'Whoever is running this show seems to be taking their own sweet time to get started.' _Mai was just leaning against the backrest, trying to eavesdrop on other people since she was bored of waiting. Besides, it can be good training for the ears, and you'll never know when you may actually learn something new.

Something like what are the "Rookies", and the purpose of this building.

She then heard a female voice behind her. "I wonder what will be on sale today?" A male voice then replied her. "Let's just hope there's something good today. With the Tenryuubito here today, the competition may-" The man suddenly stopped himself when a fat man dressed in a pink jester costume went on stage. "Looks like they're finally starting." Mai could hear the glee in the man's voice, as if he was a child in a candy shop.

Based on the conversation she just heard, she assumed that this place was some kind of an auctioning area. She could see quite a number of people in front of her holding number plates in their hands. Mai had seen places like these before during her childhood, back before she met Luffy and Ace, when she was still a noble. Her parents would often bring her to auctioning houses to buy petty objects like antique vases and paintings. Mai never understood why her parents would want to waste their money on something as useless as that when the money could be used for the good of the people. Even now, she did not understand their logic. The whole entire system seems stupid to her.

"Well then everyone! Thank you for your patience! In a moment, the monthly tradition of Grove 1, The Great Human Auction, shall commence!" _'The Human what?!' _Mai turned to her left and looked at Justin in disbelief. He turned to look at her for a moment, giving her the sadistic smirk before he turned back to the stage. Mai turned back to look at the stage as well, although there was a subtle dark aura around her now. She glared at the pink jester as he continued talking.

"Our host, of course, is this man!" His arm gestured towards the backstage, before he turned and faced that direction. The spotlights came on as a man with lavender hair and star-shaped sunglasses walked in, with a gavel in his left hand. "The walking super bazaar, Mr Disco!" The crowd then started cheering for the tall man, Disco.

"Good day, everyone! This time, we've got quite an excellent selection of slaves for you!" _'What the hell is the problem with this place?!'_

"You are all lucky! We've got a spectacular deluxe item later in the show!" Oh heavens. These people were treating slaves as if they were objects, things that can be treated with disrespect. Mai knew better. She had seen her share of slaves when she was young, but all of them were innocent people, people who had lives of their own, families to worry about. That's why whenever a slave came into their household as a new servant, she would always treat them with respect, and the servants loved her. Probably more than her parents ever loved her.

"The only thing on my mind is making sure everyone here leaves with the slave they've been waiting for!" _'Well the only thing on my mind is how screwed your mind is.'_

"Well then, let us start the auction! Entry number one! A native of West Blue, and a master of instruments from a musician family! A pirate standing proud and tall! With his instrument, he'll play any music you want, a human music box! Give him a mop, and he'll clean up any filth perfectly! He is also a fantastic wine maker! A 25 year old human male, a perfect working age! 192 cm, 130 kg, his name is Byron! We will start off the bidding with the special starting price of 480 thousand beli!"

"Well then, raise your plate if you wish to place a bid!" Disco raised his hands to exaggerate his statement.

Then a male raised his plate. "Number 7 over there offers 480 thousand. Can I get a higher bid?! Is there anyone?!" Another male then raised his plate. "500 thousand."

"Number 82 makes a bid of 500 thousand beli!" Just then, another male- _'Isn't this man wearing similar clothes as the one who just bid 500 thousand?' _Mai was deep in thought for a moment and was about to dismiss the matter as a mere coincidence, but then she heard the man with plate 7 bidding again. "We have 600 thousand from number 7! Anyone else?!" Disco waited for a second or two, before moving towards a wooden stand and banged his gavel twice on the stand. "Sold, for 600 thousand beli!"

'_Tch. I see now. It's sick enough that they're bidding on innocent people. Now they even have people among the audience to help raise the bid!' _Mai had seen enough. She stood up from her seat and wanted to walk away. "And where are you going? The show's just started." Mai turned to glare at Justin. "You are sickening." She hissed at him, voice filled with venom. "Just don't run away." Justin gave her one final smirk before turning his attention back to the auction.

She turned back and walked up to the exit, but she stopped when a ginger haired man said something to her. "Not your cup of tea, miss?" She looked at the red head, who was grinning at her. "How about you join my crew eh? You don't seem very happy to be with your blonde captain over there." Mai glared at him and walked away, not bothering to reply the red head. She did not notice the Surgeon of Death staring at her with interest.

When Mai went out of the building, she saw a gigantic man sitting on the grass patch, just at the side of the entrance. She then noticed he had the same metal ring around his neck like the pirate just now in the auction house. _'Might as well make a new friend before I get drag back to hell hole.'_ She went and took a seat on the grass patch, just a few feet away from him. The man stared at her and raised his brow. "Shouldn't you be inside?" The man asked.

"That place is sickening." Mai looked up at the man to see his expression. Well… he looks angry in general, but maybe it is just his face. "Hn. Girl, why are you talking to me? People would usually run away when they see me."

"You asked me a question. It's only polite that I answer you. I'm Mai, by the way." Mai's mood lightened immediately, flashing the man a grin. The man looked at her, before grinning slightly as well and replied her. "I'm Jean Bart, former pirate captain. You, girl, have a very interesting character. How did you get to Sabaody Archipelago?"

"Eh? Well, long story short, I got kidnapped three years ago by pirates and ever since then I've been stuck with them. We've just arrived here today. I'm almost like a slave, like you."

"So we're quite alike, aren't we?"

"Yes, yes we are. Would you mind if I ask you something?" Once again Jean Bart raised his eyebrow, asking her to continue. "What's with the metal ring?" Mai asked.

"It's a ring they put on all captured slaves. If we try to take it out, or if we try to escape, it will trigger a mechanism in the ring, and it will explode. That's why we can't escape."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Mai immediately regretted asking. "Don't be."

They sat in comfortable silence, the only sound around them coming from the auction house, with Disco's sickening voice introducing the captured slaves and trying to raise the bid higher, and the occasional cheering of the sickening people inside.

"Mister Bart, do you know what the "Rookies" are? The captain of the crew that kidnapped me mentioned something about this place having "two rookies in the house" just now." Mai thought Jean Bart may know something about the topic, since he used to be a pirate captain.

Her question caused Jean Bart to chuckle lightly. Mai just stared at him with her eyebrow raised, slightly confused at his reaction. "The "Rookies" are the Eleven Supernovas. They are rookie pirates who have bounties exceeding 100 million on their head. I remember seeing Kid, Law, Hawkins, Luffy and Drake on the newspapers quite frequently."

"Luffy? Do you mean Monkey D. Luffy?!" Mai exclaimed.

"Yeah. Among all the Supernovas, he's got the second highest bounty. You know him?" Mai remained silent as many thought ran through her head. _'Finally quite the famous pirate now huh, Luffy?' _The thought of her loveable adoptive younger brother taking a step closer to his dream of finding the One Piece made her smile. Ace was also somewhere out the living his life happily.

And here she was, being a pirate crew's prisoner.

Jean Bart watched her as she smiled, a sudden distant look in her eyes as if she was recalling a good memory, before she suddenly frowned. "It's bad to frown, Miss. They say it gives you wrinkles." Jean Bart said, in an attempt to lift her spirits. _'She's a lively one, very young at that. Such a pity that her freedom is taken away at a young age.' _Jean Bart thought to himself.

Once again she did not reply the man as she remembered how she, Ace and Luffy used to train with one another, go hunting, create trouble in the nearby town and made quite a name for themselves. Although she did not partake in Ace's and Luffy's habit of constantly provoking Dadan or worse, Garp. But she knew that deep down the adults' hearts, they adored the both of them dearly, no matter how troublesome they were.

The comfortable silence resumed between Mai and Jean Bart, as they both were deep in their own world. The silence continued for another thirty minutes or so, when all of a sudden Mai heard bickering somewhere behind. She stood up and turned around, and saw an orange head woman, a blonde man, a small raccoon, something small and orange and a man with very purplish skin arguing with a pink jester. _'Since when did they get here…?' _Mai was convinced that she has been in her spaced out mode too much for one day.

She then saw a man with blue hair, in a purple Hawaiian shirt and just a pair of speedos running towards the Auction House. His eyes met Jean Bart for a moment, before his eyes travelled down to Mai, who was now looking at him curiously. He stopped in his tracks when he heard the bickering group, and ran in their direction and joined them.

"Just for your information, that group of people are from Luffy's crew. Apparently a friend of theirs got kidnapped and now they're trying to get her back. Or at least that's what they've said." Mai snapped her head towards Jean Bart and her eyes widened. She then looked at the group of people who finally gave up arguing with the jester, and were now walking towards the Auction House.

"Hey! Are you the ones travelling with Luffy?" Mai called out to them. _'This could be my only chance to escape Justin!'_ They looked at her, before the blonde man in their group suddenly had hearts in his eyes as he scooted over to Mai. "Yes we are~! How can we help y-" The blonde man was cut off when the woman with orange hair punched him in the head. "Sanji!" She reprimanded the blonde man. "And you are?" The woman asked.

"Mai. I'm Luffy's sister."

"…EHHHH?!" They all exclaimed in unison. "First Luffy has a brother and now he has a sister! How many more siblings does he have?!" The large animal with a hat exclaimed. "There's only three of us." Mai reassured the group, slightly amused at their reaction. "So I take it that you've met Ace before? How's he?" Mai asked them. "We met him at Alabasta. He's very strong with his fire abilities." The only lady in their group replied. _'So he ate a devil fruit too?' _Mai smiled at the thought.

"So is there anything we can help you with?" Sanji asked her again.

Mai thought about how she should phrase herself for a moment. "Well, I need to talk to Luffy. Do you know where he is?"

"He should be coming here soon enough. Why don't you follow us for now? We need to rescue our friend who's been captured." The blue haired man suggested. Mai nodded at him, and turned to look at Jean Bart, who was witnessing the whole thing quietly. He nodded at her. Mai smiled, and bowed at the former captain. "Thank you for your time. I would help you but…" Mai looked at the metal ring around his neck. Jean Bart just smirked at her. "You go ahead and live your life, Miss. I should be the one thanking you for taking the time to talk to me."

Mai turned back to the group. "Before we go in, I have another favour to ask of you. Have you heard of Justin Gringham?" She asked them. "The blonde captain of the Gringham Pirates? I've seen his bounty poster quite a few times. I'm Franky, by the way." The blue haired man answered.

Mai nodded at him for the second time. "The blondie is inside the Auction House now. Can I ask you to hide me from him? I actually got kidnapped by his crew, and I've been waiting to escape for a long time." Mai explained her situation to them. "Anything for you, Mai-swan!" Sanji exclaimed, happy to be able to play the role of the Knight in Shining Armour.

"I'm Nami, and this is Chopper, Pappag and Hachi." The orange haired woman introduced herself, then gestured to the large animal, the orange thing, and the purplish man. "Pleasure to meet you." Mai said. Mai bid Jean Bart farewell one last time, before she went in the sickening Auction House with Nami, Franky, Sanji, Chopper, Pappag and Hachi.

_One step closer to freedom._

* * *

Kid and his crew noticed the group walking in, but what struck him odd was that Mai was following them. Specifically, she was hiding behind Chopper and Hachi.

"Chief, I think that's Straw Hat crew."

"The Straw Hats' captain isn't here. I was hoping to see how dumb he is myself." _'But why is the girl with them?' _Kid thought to himself.

"Well then, next up is entry number fourteen! This item is a female human! Of course, she ca…" Mai didn't want to hear any more of it. _'I guess I'll just zone out for one last time today... but I should be careful about Justin as well.' _She decided to hide behind Hachi and kept her eye on Justin every now and then. She could barely hear Nami, Franky, Sanji, Chopper, Pappag and Hachi saying something. For now, Mai was not going to bother about the darn auction.

Mai then noticed that the whole entire auction hall suddenly went very quiet, and saw everyone staring at the auction hall exit. She looked at that direction, and saw that one of those Tenryuubito had just entered the hall. She saw the red head earlier staring at him too. A pink jester ran up to him and halted in front of him before kneeling down quickly. "Oh my. Saint Charlos!"

"Hooray up and take me to my seat!" _'Oh lord, the fat Tenryuubito can't even speak properly.' _Mai almost wanted to laugh at her own insult, but she held it in. "Yes, right away, sir!" The jester shrieked, before ushering the Tenryuubito to his seat. As he made his way towards his seat, everyone stared at him. All those that he walked past closed their eyes and looked away from him. _'Either he is the most cruel World Noble, or everyone thinks that he is so ugly that if they don't look away from him their eyes will burn.'_

Another captured man entered the stage, and the crowd started cheering again. _'Sickening people and their sickening minds.' _Mai was so tempted to walk out of the auction hall again, but she had to stay here, since his crew said that he was on his way here.

"Well then, it seems we're ready! Entry number sixteen is… can you believe it?! A pirate captain! Take a good look at him! A wanted man with a bounty of 17 million beli! His name is Lacuba! He is a pirate well known for his acupuncture. His well-built body is worthy of note as well. He makes an excellent transport, hard worker, or sandbag! A practical choice if I ever saw one!" The crowd laughed at Disco's comment, but Mai and the group saw nothing funny about that comment. Then Mai noticed the captain's face.

He was too pale. Almost as if he did not have enough bloo-

The captain suddenly became unstable, fell to his knees, and blood started coming out from his mouth before he fell down face flat. "He collapsed! What's going on?! I saw blood!" One of the audiences shouted and pointed at the fallen man. The jesters drew the curtains immediately, covering the bloody scene.

"What just happened?" Nami asked, looking at Sanji. "He bit his tongue. He decided he didn't want to live his life as a slave, and figured that it would be better to just die now. I suppose that's actually a logical choice." Sanji frowned at his last sentence.

"…Who is this friend that you're going to save?" Mai asked the group. "Camie. She is a mermaid from Fishman Island. We've got treasures in our ship now that should worth approximately 200 million beli. It should be enough to get her back." Nami replied. Mai stared at her for a moment, before she turned to look at the Tenryuubito that just entered the hall. She heard him telling the guard that he wanted to buy a mermaid. _'If he doesn't buy her first…' _Mai thought solemnly.

A few seconds later, the curtains withdrew and Disco continued with the auction.

"Well then, about number 16, it would appear that the pirate Lacuba got a little nervous, had a nosebleed and collapsed. We'll put him up for sale again later."

"That's bullshit. Anyone who fell for it must be an idiot." Mai said, and apparently the group heard her and nodded their head in agreement.

"However, everyone! The next item we're going to bring out now is a super deluxe item that's sure to make you forget about all of this trouble!" A pink jester pushed something out from the backstage. It was something big that was covered in a white cloth. "Countless people have tried to capture one. Please look, at this silhouette!" A spotlight was shone at the large object, and a figure appeared.

"An introduction is not necessary. Look at this!" The jester removed the white cloth, revealing a mermaid inside a giant fishbowl. "So that is your mermaid friend…" Mai said softly to herself. "Camie! They've brought out Camie!" Hachi yelled while Pappag was crying a river. "Alright, we're going to take her back! We've got 200 million after all!" Nami said, her voice filled with determination.

Disco slammed his gavel on the wooden stand. "It's been a while since we last had a mermaid here. I'm sure everyone here wants to buy it! Well then, how much are you willing to pay? Now, let us begin! First, we'll start wit-"

"Five hundred millioon!" The fat Tenryuubito, Charlos, interrupted Disco as he placed his bid immediately. "I knew it…" Mai deadpanned. The entire auction hall went quiet instantly upon hearing the Tenryuubito's bid. It seemed even Disco was quite shocked at the amount.

"I'll booy it for 500 millioon beli!" The Tenryuubito repeated himself. Nami dropped her plate number when she heard the amount. That's more than twice the amount they currently have! Just when she thought she would have enough to save Camie!

"What's that?! We don't have that much!" Nami exclaimed. "Is there really nothing we can do to prevent the World Nobles from taking her?" Pappag cried out.

"It would appear that the audience has been rendered speechless…Well, does anyone else want to make a higher bid than 500 million?"

"There's gotta be something we can do. Is there no way? Hey, Sanji? Nami…?" Chopper saw Nami clenching her fists in frustration. "This can't be happening! They can't take our friend away just because we don't have enough money!"

"This is bad. We've never considered this possibility. If we can't get her back with money, then the situation has gotten even worse!" Sanji glared at the Tenryuubito.

"Well, there is one more way." Mai spoke up. The group snapped their heads at here. "Really?!" Hachi asked, hope gleaming in his eyes. _'I don't want to break it to them, but with the current situation we have at hand, I guess they don't really have that much of a choice...'_

"Luffy is friends with her, right?" Mai asked them. They all nodded in confirmation. "When he comes here and finds out that you can't get her back through legal means, he'll use illegal means." Their faces paled when they heard her explanation, fully understanding what Mai was implying.

"Well, in other words, just be prepared to break in backstage and find a way to get the key for the neck ring, grab your mermaid friend quickly and escape before this place is swarmed with Marines led by an Admiral. If you're lucky, maybe there won't be a need for fighting. But seeing how Luffy will be here soon, I really doubt there won't be fighting." Mai knew Luffy. Even if it meant going against Satan himself, he would do anything to get his friend back.

"But, but, if he does that then!" Chopper now exclaimed. Mai just shrugged at Chopper. "You don't really have that much of a choice anyway. Either you let your friend get taken away just like that, or you go against the rules and save her. One thing's for sure: Luffy would go to hell and back just to save a friend. So be prepared." Everyone stared at her, disbelief written on their expression.

"That's enough time! Well then, thank you for your attention up till now." Mai heard footsteps from where the red head was standing, and saw that he and his crew were about to leave the auction house.

"The main prize this time, the mermaid Camie, goes to the World Noble, Saint Charlos for the price of 500 million beli. It's a deal!" Just when Disco slammed his gavel down, an explosion occurred from the back of the auction hall. Mai immediately ducked down and hid behind the seats to cover herself from Justin. At least the smoke from the explosion gave her plenty of time to hide herself.

"What the heck! Couldn't you land any better than that?!"

"No way! It's a Flying Fish, you know! And it was you who told me to crash into the building!" When Mai heard Luffy arguing with another man, she couldn't help but smile at the situation. _'Same old Luffy.'_

"Anyway you told me to get on, but why were you in such a hurry to get back to the Sunny anyway?" A green haired man groaned while clutching the back of his head. He then looked up when the smoke cleared away enough for him to see. "Where are we?"

"Zoro too?" Chopper said. "Oh, you guys." Zoro saw the group. He then saw Mai curled up with her back resting against the seat. He then pointed at her. "Who's that gir-"

"Shhh!" Chopper shushed Zoro. Zoro looked at the girl again, who had her lips curled to a thin line with her index finger placed in front of her lips, asking Zoro to keep quiet about her. Zoro merely shrugged and turned to look at Luffy, who was staring at Mai as well.

"… … …" All of a sudden, Luffy's face brightened.

"MAI?!"

His voice echoed throughout the whole auction hall. _'Why Luffy? Why?!' _Mai had no idea if she should be happy that she has finally seen her younger brother after three years, or if she should be irritated at him for blowing her cover.

Luffy ran to her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, not noticing the bandages around her. He threw all sorts of questions at her. "Where have you been? Why did you disappear three years ago? Have you gotten stronger like Ace?"

"Luffy, how about you let go of me before I die, literally? Then I'll be happy to answer you." Luffy released her immediately, and noticed the bandages covered around her limbs. "What happened to you?" He asked. Mai turned and looked at where Justin was seated, only to find him glaring at her. She turned back and looked at Luffy. "Don't you have a mermaid friend to save?" Mai said, smirking at Luffy. _'Is she doing that on purpose?' _Franky thought.

"Oh, that's right! Camie!" Luffy looked around, before he saw Camie on the stage and sped off in that direction. Mai's eyes followed Luffy as he ran down the stairs, before she noticed that there was someone else climbing up the stairs. Then she saw Justin giving her a cold look while he walked towards her, a dark aura surrounding him. "Are you running away?" Justin growled.

Mai sighed mentally._ 'I've already come this far…no way I'll give up now!' _She returned Justin's cold look with a glare of her own. "I'd rather think of it as escaping from hell." She said in a calm voice.

The next thing Mai knew, Justin punched her in the gut and sent her flying until her back crashed into the wall. She felt as if her spine had snapped into half. She fell on to the floor and started coughing out blood. _'Must be internal bleeding…' _From the corner of her eye, she could see Justin walking towards her, and people near them were all staring at her.

Clutching her stomach with a hand, she stood up slowly while supporting herself on the wall with the other hand, coughing up more blood in the process. She looked up slowly, and saw Justin giving her the worst glare she has ever seen from him. "Would you care repeating that again?"

Mai simply smirked at him. _'This is going to be worth the pain.'_

"I said, I'd rather think of it as escaping hell."

Justin's face darkened even more and he raised his fist, prepared to strike her again. However, just before he could land another blow on her, he was sent flying to the front of the auction house, just beside the stage. "I don't appreciate assholes like you hurting a lady. Seems like you need to be taught some table manners."

Mai saw Sanji frowning at the direction which Justin flew off, before turning towards her and helping her up. "You should hide somewhere first while I make sure that he is knocked out completely." With that, Sanji made his way to Justin, and started kicking him until Mai could have sworn that he was shedding more blood than her now. She slowly limped towards Nami and the others, her hand still resting on the wall to support herself. Chopper walked towards her and held her arm, his other hand around her shoulder. "Thanks, Chopper."

"No problem. I'm a doctor after all. I'll heal you once we go back to the ship."

'_I should thank Sanji once he is done. I wonder what everyone is loo-'_

_**BANG!**_

A gunshot rang throughout the auction hall. "I hit it! I shot a fishman! Father please look! I caught a fishman!" Mai looked down the stairs leading to the stage, and saw the Tenryuubito jumping around like a monkey, with Hachi fallen and bleeding in front of him. Luffy was now glaring at the Tenryuubito, and was slowly making his way towards him with clenched fists. However, Hachi was still conscious and grabbed Luffy's arm.

Mai could see Hachi saying something, but it was very soft and she could not read people's lips when they are talking. "Heh…Luffy is still going to punch that World Noble whether he wants him to or not." Mai muttered in a light tone. "What?!" Chopper was almost horrified that Mai was still able to joke like that, given her current physical state and the current situation they were in.

"I told you just a while ago, didn't I? Luffy would go to hell and back just to save a friend." Mai smirked weakly.

Luffy then turned around and placed Hachi's arm down, but turned back to the Tenryuubito when he heard him cocking his gun. "Yoo, what's with that look of yoors?!" Luffy walked up the stairs, glaring daggers at the World Noble. "Are yoo looking at me?! Yoo are annoying too!" The Tenryuubito aimed his gun at Luffy, and shot twice. However, Luffy dodged both bullets, and got into a stance and clenched his fists. Giving a battle cry, he punched the Tenryuubito in his face. _'Seeing him punch the Noble like that made Justin's punch look like a small poke…'_

After Luffy punched the Tenryuubito, the audience in the auction hall were all staring at him with their eyes wide and their jaw hanging down, making them look like idiots.

"Sorry you guys. If I hit these guys, they'll call an admiral from the Navy and a warship here, right?" Luffy asked in a light tone. "Because you went and beat him up, I didn't get to cut him." Zoro replied, sheathing his katana. "Then, it's clear what we've gotta do next, right?" Franky asked.

"I'm sure the key to Camie's neck-ring is somewhere behind the stage, just like what Mai said earlier. I have to take a look at Hachi's injuries, so I'll leave this to you!" Chopper replied, his doctor side taking over. He turned to Mai. "Mai, will you be alright?"

Mai nodded at him. "Check on Hachi first. He looks like he's in a critical condition. I'll be fine on my own." She mustered up the strongest voice she could in her state, and gave Chopper a small smile. "All right then. Be careful." With that, Chopper went to check on Hachi, while Franky went to the backstage.

Mai leaned her back against the wall, and heard more gunshots. Seconds later, the audience started screaming and shouting as they were rushing towards the exit. "Run! Outside!" Mai barely moved away to allow the people to escape. In their panic state, Mai knew that they would not notice someone like her who was hurt. No, they were too busy saving their own lives to care about anything else.

"I guess I should take cover between the seats and avoid fighting for now." Mai muttered to herself, as she limped down the stairs amidst all the chaos Luffy and his crew were causing. _'Since there's only one group of people left there who's still seated, I should go near them just to be safe…' _She saw a giant white bear in an orange suit, and went to the row behind it and slumped on the seat, placing her katanas across her lap.

* * *

Shachi heard some movements behind him and turned around, only to find the raven haired girl who was with Justin Gringham sitting behind him. If he heard correctly just now, Luffy said her name was… May? No… Oh yes! Mai. He took a closer look at Mai. For starters, she looked very beat up with all that bandages around her. And her face was too pale. Her lips were turning _white._

"Hey Miss! Are you okay? Your lips are turning white!" Shachi asked her. Mai didn't reply. Instead, she closed her eyes. For some reason, her vision was turning distorted, and everything was becoming blurry all of a sudden. As if it wasn't enough, she could barely hear anything as well. She heard the man in front saying something, but she could not make heads or tails of what he was saying.

Suddenly, she felt very faint. She placed one hand on the seat in an attempt to hold herself up, but her arm gave way and she collapsed on the velvet cushion. She could barely hear someone talking, or was it shouting? She closed her eyelids shut, and before she knew it, she became unconscious.

Shachi watched as Mai suddenly fainted, and then he looked at Bepo, who also turned to look at her. "Is she… alright?" Bepo asked Shachi. "Of course she isn't! She just fainted!" Shachi scolded the white bear. "Sorry."

"Captain, it looks like Mai fainted behind us. What do we do about her?" Shachi asked Law, who was still looking at the chaos the Straw Hats were making, amused smirk on his face. "Watch over her. I'm quite interested about Mai-ya and her abilities." Law ordered Shachi without taking his eyes away from the fight. "Aye captain."

Law watched as Luffy started punching people, Zoro slashing people, Sanji kicking people, Nami electrifying people and Franky burning people. He had to admit, the Straw Hats are not a force to be reckoned with. And according to his intel, not everyone in the crew was here yet. This fight was so much more interesting than watching the auction.

"Straw Hat-ya Luffy. A bounty of 300 million, huh?" Law said to himself, his smirk never leaving his face. Just then, two more flying fish crashed into the roof, a woman and a skeleton jumped off from their respective flying fish. _'Heh. One more crew member left.'_ As if on cue, another man fell from the roof, landing on the eldest Tenryuubito, causing the old man to faint from the impact.

"Luffy! Where is Camie?" The man who just fell asked Luffy. "She's over there! As soon as we manage to remove that exploding neck-ring, we're out of here!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing at the giant fishbowl on the stage. "If we don't hurry, a warship and an admiral will arrive!" Nami informed them.

"The Navy is already here, Straw Hat-ya." Law told them. "What's up with you?" Luffy asked, slightly irritated. "And what's with that bear?" That statement caused Bepo to look away from Luffy from embarrassment.

"Those guys have had this hall surrounded since before the auction started. After all, there is a HQ outpost right on this archipelago. I have no idea who they wanted to catch, but they couldn't have known that someone would beat up the Tenryuubito though, right?" The shadow from Law's furry hat was covering his eyes. An amused chuckle escaped his lips, and he continued. "You've showed me something interesting, Straw Hat-ya crew." He looked up, allowing everyone to see the subtle sadistic glint in his eyes.

"You are Trafalgar Law, right? Luffy, he's a pirate." The woman who just arrived told her captain. "Huh? The bear too?" Luffy turned to look at Bepo, who looked away from Luffy's stare again. _'I don't think that's the main point here, Straw Hat-ya…'_

"And the man standing over there," the woman continued, her eyes darting to the back of the auction hall. "is Eustass "Captain" Kid." Kid was now giving the woman a sadistic grin. (They all seem to be sadistic, don't they? Law, Kid, and even Justin.)

"Captain, aren't you going to tell them about Mai?" Shachi whispered from behind. "No. Like I said before, I'm quite curious about Mai-ya. If things go well, they'll be too busy saving their mermaid friend that they will forget about her." Law answered Shachi in a low voice.

Currently, the last standing Tenryuubito, Princess Sharlia, was about to kill the mermaid, while Disco was desperately trying to stop her. However, his constant pestering annoyed her, and she shot him without hesitation. She turned back to the mermaid and aimed her gun at her. "Now die." She cocked her gun, and was about to fire her gun when suddenly, the World Noble fainted and fell on to the cold, hard, floor.

The stage backdrop started tearing from the inside, and an old man walked out with a giant following behind. "Have a look at that, Giant-kun. The hall is a complete mess. Seems like the auction is over. Seeing how I've stolen some money, I guess I'll be returning to the gambling hall." The old man said calmly. "What a foul old man you are. You came here just so you could steal money?"

"I wanted to steal from whoever bought me as well, but that's impossible now." The old man admitted. "Although, come to think about it, I'm pretty old. Who would want a slave like me? Huehahahaha!" The old man laughed at his own comment, unaware that there were still people in the hall who were staring at him. "Hm? What? Seems like I drew some unwanted attention."

The following events were so overwhelming that Law was having slight difficulty comprehending it. First, the fishman, Hachi, called the old man Rayleigh. And Law was hoping that he is not the legendary man. But to add on to Law's pile of suspicions, the old man gave out some kind of strong wave, causing the auction hall guards to become unconscious. The only ones left standing were himself, Luffy, Kid, and their respective crew members.

"No way!" Law muttered. _'He is that legendary man, no doubts about that.' _Law thought darkly.

The old man looked at Luffy dead in the eye. "That straw hat suits a fearless man like yourself. I wanted to meet you, Monkey D. Luffy!"

* * *

Law. Finally. Are you guys happy that Law has finally appeared? Because I am! I had so much fun writing this chapter. Who knew that writing a story could be this fun! And Mai is finally free from Justin, yay!

Okay guys, you know what you should do to make writers happy!


	5. Chapter 5

Note to self: please start on your holiday assignments.

I'M BAAAAACK! Honestly, I think I've gotten quite high after the previous chapter. But let's put all that highness in this chapter.

**MsWildLuck: *returns thumbs up* Should I add a shiny smile too?**

**imafangirlforever: Thanks! I was actually quite worried that Mai would go a bit out of character, as well as the flow of the story. My teachers used to say that I'm bad at making my essays go smoothly, but that was back when I was in Primary School (or elementary school?). And pardon me from stalking your profile, but you're an Asian too? :D**

Disclaimer: you know the drill!

* * *

The old man looked at Luffy dead in the eye. "That straw hat suits a fearless man like yourself. I wanted to meet you, Monkey D. Luffy!"

The old man, Rayleigh, continued to look at Luffy. He looked like he was piercing through Luffy's soul, but with that amused grin on the old man's face, Law doubted it. Rayleigh turned around and picked up the step ladder and placed it in front of the giant fishbowl. By now the mermaid was staring at Rayleigh as well.

He climbed up the step ladder and gave Camie a reassuring smile. "I'm going to remove the collar now. Is that alright, young girl?" She gulped slightly and blinked at him. The orange thing and the raccoon, or at least that was what Law was going to call them for now, started protesting how the ring would explode. _'But the old man and the giant were captured slaves, yet they somehow removed them. One of the guards had said that much earlier.' _Law pondered what the old man was going to do next.

Even when the long nose man and the orange thing begged Luffy to convince Rayleigh to wait for this "Franky" while he is getting the keys, Luffy remained silent and kept a straight face.

Seeing that trying to convince Luffy is useless, the orange thing yelled at the old man that it was impossible to remove the ring without the key. However, the old man just ignored him and touched the metal collar, triggering the mechanism. A loud ticking sound resonated throughout the auction hall, causing quite a few of the Straw Hats and the fishman to start panicking. Law just watched on with a smirk on his face. _'Seems like they're too busy fussing over the mermaid they've forgotten about someone… good.'_

The old man still had his hand near the metal ring. The ticking quickened and Camie closed her eyes shut. Just before the ring exploded, Law felt the familiar wave from earlier and the ring exploded at the other end of the stage. _'So that's how he removed his own collar and the giant's collar. This must be the Haki that I've heard rumours about.'_

Rayleigh jumped off the stage, and made his way towards Luffy. Law continued to keep his eyes on the old man, interested in what he would do next. Just then, Rayleigh noticed that Law and Kid were still in the hall. "Sorry you guys. You were just here to watch, right?" Law looked at him and his smirk widened. "Judging from how you handled that situation earlier, you aren't exactly pushovers, right?"

"Who'd have thought we'd run into such a big shot here? That's the Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh, no doubt about it. What's that legendary man doing here?" Kid wondered out loud. "I prefer to be called the old coater, Ray-san, on this island. Please don't call me by that name. I'm an old man now. I'd like to live peacefully." Rayleigh answered Kid with a grin.

Rayleigh had a short conversation with Luffy before mentioning that they had to get out of the auction hall. _'But first we need to deal with the Navy…'_

"Criminals inside! Please release the Rosward family! An admiral will be here shortly! I'd imagine that it would be safer for you to just surrender. You don't know what will happen otherwise, rookies!" A Marine shouted through a loudspeaker from the outside of the auction hall. _'Well isn't that reassuring. Then we'll just have to escape before the admiral arrives, don't we?' _Law thought, delighted that they are finally getting some action. "So they're not just dragging us into this, but they're treating us as if we were his accomplices, too…" Law said in a low tone.

"I see that Straw Hat Luffy is every bit as crazy as the rumours said." Kid insulted Luffy. "Not to complain, but I'm not gonna stick around to clash with an admiral."

"Yes, I can't use that power from before anymore, so I'm counting on you. It would be really troublesome is the Navy found out who I am." Rayleigh requested. "I have no intention of getting saved by an old man." Kid retorted. "But the longer we stay, the more soldiers will come. I'll be going on ahead. As an extra favour, I'll save you guys. I'll take care of the cleaning outside, so just relax!"

'_And I have no intention of getting saved by the likes of you, Eustass-ya!'_ Law grabbed his nodachi from the polar bear. "Bepo, carry Mai-ya to the sub later. Make sure that the Straw Hat-ya crew doesn't see her." Law ordered the bear in a hushed tone before making his way to the exit with Luffy. "Aye captain." Bepo replied after Law left.

Law and Luffy caught up with Kid, and now they were walking side by side. "Hey, didn't I say I'm doing you a favour? The both of you can just go back inside and relax while I finish this up."

"Eustass-ya, I don't want to be ordered around by you."

"Che! I won't let you guys have all the fun for yourself!"

"Straw Hat Luffy, you're the youngest so you can just go back inside while I take care of the grown up stuff."

"I'm older than you. You're one to talk like a grown up."

"Like I said, I won't let you hog all the fun!"

"Shut up."

"I said I'll do it myself!"

"Really?"

"Stop bickering already."

"Shut up! Just shut up, you two!"

"You're so noisy."

"What did you say?!"

"Like I said, leave this to me!"

"No! I'll do it!"

"Don't order me around."

"You don't get it, do you?"

"You're the one who doesn't get it!"

"All right! You guys, stand back!"

"Hey, are you listening to me? I said that you two should stay away!"

"Try to give me one more order, and I'll take you out first, Eustass-ya!"

The Navy aimed their guns at the three captains and were prepared to fire on command. "I'll go!" Luffy exclaimed while cracking his knuckles. "Leave it to me." Kid growled. "Try it, if you want to get hurt." Law shot back at Kid. "For this place,"

"I'm more than enough!" The three of them said in unison.

"Fire the mortars!" The Marines started to fire cannon balls, which Luffy deflected them by expanding himself, causing the cannon to land near the Marines and blow up. Kid made a cannon go in the other direction, causing it to blow up near the Marines too.

"Room." A blue hemisphere appeared around Law and a Marine. "What's up with this sphere-" Before the man knew it Law had cut of his head. "Shambles." Law switched the man's head with an incoming cannon, causing it to blow up on the Marine. Again.

"He killed me!" The Marine head screamed while Law was tossing the head in his hands, as if it was a ball that can be played with. "W-what?!" Law chuckled when the Marine realised that he was still alive.

The Navy were now about to fire a second round of mortars, and the three captains prepared themselves. Until Kid raised his arms to block their view, that is. "Keep your hands out of this, you two! You'll just get in my way."

"I told you already. If you try to order me-"

"Leave it to me!" Luffy shouted as he charged at the Marines. "Fire! Shoot at him!" The Navy started firing cannons at Luffy. "Rubber Rubber Net!" Luffy stretched his fingers to create a giant net and caught all the cannons. "He stretched?!" "What's with that strange ability?" Both Kid and Law were shocked with the rubber boy's power.

Luffy started swinging around with all those cannons in the net he created with his fingers, but one of them slipped out and flew towards the other two captains, who managed to dodge it with ease.

Let's see… after that Luffy released all the mortars and blew up more of the Navy soldiers, next Luffy played "Dodge the Cannon Ball", then Kid used his magnet ability to attack the Navy soldiers with all the metallic objects lying around, which are guns and swords by the way, and successfully chased away the last of the soldiers. Too bad reinforcements from the nearest outpost had arrived just when they all ran away.

"Wait! What's going on here?! Save me!" Law was still tossing the Marine head in his hands, all the while lazily watching Luffy and Kid chase the soldiers away. "Good grief. There are even more of them than I thought."

Luffy walked back to his original position next Kid and Law. "You guys sure have some weird powers!"

"Yours is the strangest of all." Kid said while grinning. Luffy just placed a hand on his head, as if he was confused at Kid's statement. "Really?"

By now, the Marines were finally realising that petty weaponries like cannons and guns would not have any effect on the three of them. However, the three captains were not that stupid that they could not see through their pathetic excuse of a plan. Okay maybe Luffy had not figure it out but the other two were definitely not stupid. One of them even had put it into plain words so nicely. "We've got to somehow hold them off until Admiral Kizaru arrives!"

"Do you really think we're going to wait for that?" Law said lazily as he tossed the head back to the Marines, which caused them to start screaming like girls. _'Seriously… who would overlook a person tossing around a human head that's still talking? If the Navy wants to keep up their game of cat and mice they need to do something about those soldiers of theirs.' _Law thought.

"Everyone, Be careful! That guy, don't get into the circle he creates!" The head shouted, referring to Law. _'Heh. Too late.' _

"Room." The blue dome appeared again. "Y-you mean this?" The man holding the head asked. "Yeah, it's this thing."

"Eh?!"

Law unsheathed his nodachi and cut up the soldiers who were inside his Room. Law sheathed his nodachi again and placed it against his shoulder. "Just relax. This will be over soon." Law gave the frightened soldiers one final smirk. "Shambles."

* * *

The rest of the people inside the auction hall, who were the crew members of the Kid Pirates, the Heart Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates, were slowly making their way out. Bepo was standing in between Shachi and Penguin. He was carrying the still unconscious Mai on his back, his large body covering her from the Straw Hats. He made sure to stand in a certain position so that they would not spot her. Shachi was carrying Mai's katanas for her.

_Clank clank clank clank clank_

"Huh?" Shachi looked down when he felt the katana vibrating. All of a sudden, it flew out of its sheath and flew towards the exit. "Huh?! The katana moved by its own?!" Shachi exclaimed. It seems like Zoro's katanas were about to fly away as well, but he managed to catch them just in time.

"That must be Chief Kid. The devil fruit that he ate allows him to control metallic objects. I would take cover if I were you." One of the Kid Pirates explained. "Huh?"

Just after the Kid pirate finished his sentence, all the guns, rifles, swords, heck, everything metallic in the hall started flying towards the exit. For a good thirty seconds or so, everyone in the auction hall were dodging the weapons, and then they heard a loud crashing sound from the outside.

Everyone ran out of the Human Auction House –with Bepo, Shachi and Penguin staying behind everyone else, of course– only to see lots of smoke and dust flying around. "Oh man… you're overdoing it, Captain." Shachi complained. The current state of the battlefield caused Rayleigh to start laughing. "Why, these guys aren't half bad."

The three captains were standing back in their original positions, except the only difference was Luffy, who suddenly became short. Very short. Maybe around, say, one quarter of his original height?

Law glanced at Luffy. "Hey, what happened to you, Straw Hat-ya? You're ruining the mood." He said jokingly. "Really?" _'Well what do you know, his voice changed too.' _Law found himself becoming even more amused with Luffy's antics.

"Well, I guess we've pretty much ruined their formation now." Kid said.

The Commodore was getting a tad bit desperate. He started yelling out the formation for each squad, and the Navy soldiers started forming a large semicircle around the pirates. He even went as low as to start attacking the new group of pirates who came out of the auction hall, since none of them were devil fruit users, except for Robin, Brook, Chopper, and the unconscious Mai. After the soldiers got into formation, they charged at the pirates.

Kid observed the Marine soldiers. "Here they come. The enemy seems to have run out of strategies. Now it's just a brawl."

"I'm back I'm back!" Luffy cheered when he returned to his normal height and started laughing. "Well, see ya later, Straw Hat. It was a pleasure meeting you in person, but I won't show mercy the next time we meet!" Upon hearing Kid's words, Law looked at him lazily, although he was actually curious as to what the Straw Hat will reply.

Luffy stared at Kid for a few seconds, before he grinned. "But I'll be the one who finds One Piece." Kid and Law were slightly shocked by his words, their eyes widening by the slightest. Luffy started laughing again.

A Navy was approaching Kid and was about to attack him when he saw that Kid was letting his guard down, but before he could land a blow Killer came and attacked the Navy with his spinning blade. "Hey Kid! What are you just standing around for?!"

"Hey, Killer, on the route that we took to get here, whenever we said we were going to find One Piece, people just laughed at us. Although I killed anyone who dared to laugh, but after this, we're going to an Ocean where anyone who doesn't have the guts to say it will die. Let's meet again in the New World!" His last sentence was directed at Luffy. Law just smirked at Kid's little speech. With that, Kid and his men began with their counter-attack.

"Trafalgar Law!" Law turned to the source of the voice, only to see a muscular Marine soldier preparing to attack him with his sword. "How dare you do that to my mate back then?!"

'_At least he has a sense of camaraderie unlike most of the Navy. I'll give him credit for that.' _"Bepo."

Bepo immediately placed Mai on the ground where Shachi and Penguin could hide her, and jumped into action. With a battle cry, he gave the man a hard kick across his face, knocking him out instantly. Three more soldiers ran up to Bepo. "Hiiiiiiya!" Once again he kicked all three of the Marines, before jumping back and landing with a kung fu pose. Law ignored Bepo completely and walked towards the gigantic man who had been sitting down there the whole time. "Huh? Captain, are you going back there?"

When Law did not answer Bepo, the bear just blinked his eyes in confusion.

Law stopped in front of the man and smirked, who had turned to look at Law. "Room." The blue dome appeared once again. Law flicked his wrist, and in a second, he removed the metal collar. The man rubbed his sore neck. "Why?" He questioned Law.

"Do you want to come with me, pirate captain Jean Bart?" Bart's eyes widened when he heard Law call him by that name. With a swing of his arm, Bart sent the Marines flying backwards. "It's been a long time since anyone has called me that. As long as it means that you'll free me from the Tenryuubito, I'll gladly become your subordinate!" Bart said as he continued to send the Marines flying.

Law's smirk widened at Bart's reply. "You should save half of that gratitude for the Straw Hat-ya crew." Law turned to look at Shachi and Penguin, the former carrying Mai since the Straw Hats had already left. _'Seems like they really did forget about her. This must be my lucky day.'_

"We're leaving. Bart, would you mind carrying the lady?" Law gestured to Mai. "Okay." Bart took Mai from Shachi, and they all made their way towards the bridge to escape, except for Bepo.

"Hiiiiiya! Hiya hiya hiiiiiiya!"

"What a quick witted bear! We can't even touch him!" "How can a bear speak?!"

"I'm sorry…"

"He's too sensitive!" The two Marines yelled in unison. "Hurry up, Bepo!" Law ordered.

Bepo ran and jumped on to the other side of the bridge just when Bart destroyed it. Shachi and Law went ahead, leaving Penguin, Bart, Bepo and Mai to catch up with them. Bepo looked at Bart, who was carrying Mai on his shoulder. "You're new, so you're my subordinate."

"As long as I'm not a slave, anything is fine!" Bart replied.

"Captain! Look at that!" Shachi yelled at Law. Law stopped in his tracks and looked over to the cloud of smoke and dust. When the smoke cleared enough, he could see a few figures. "Eustass-ya and…" His eyes widened when he saw the large figure opposite of Kid. "That's…!"

"What's one of the Shichibukai doing in a place like this?!"

* * *

"_Out of the night that covers me,_

_Black as the pit from pole to pole,_

_I thank whatever gods may be_

_For my unconquerable soul._

_In the fell clutch of circumstance_

_I have not winced nor cried aloud._

_Under the bludgeonings of chance_

_My head is bloody, but unbowed._

_Beyond this place of wrath and tears_

_Looms but the horror of the shade,_

_And yet the menace of the years_

_Finds, and shall find, me unafraid._

_It matters not how strait the gate,_

_How charged with punishments the scroll,_

_I am the master of my fate,_

_I am the captain of my soul."_

_Mai recited the poem aloud during her literature lesson. At the tender age of four, she started home schooling, since her parents did not want her to be mixing around with the "commoners", as her parents called it._

_She always found the lessons boring. They had no apparent use to her._

"_You need your education, dear. We want you to be smart, so that you can do our family proud." That's what her mother always told her. At the tender age of four, she could not understand the other message behind her mother's words at first. It was only when she was nine years old, when she finally saw the other message. "If you don't study hard enough, you'll make our family look like a disgrace."_

_Personally, Mai did not really care whether she would be the black sheep of her noble family or not. All she wanted to do was go outside and have fun with the other kids in town. Whenever she was not studying, she would look out of her window, and observe how happy the other kids are. She envied them. Sometimes, the servants working in their household would give her a pity look when they caught her looking at the other kids._

_It was quite ironic how her tutor made her recite a poem about having the freedom to choose what one wants to do, when she was stuck with her noble life, where her future was already planned out for her before she was even born._

_However, at the tender age of four, her parents made her learn how to play the piano as well, and that was actually one lesson that she truly enjoyed. She loved the melodic symphony that can be produced by the musical instrument. Whenever she played the piano, it made her forget all of her troubles, just for that fleeting moment. Whenever her parents had guests, she would have to play the piano for them. All of them called her a prodigy. _

_And then Mai turned ten._

"_Mai, we need to make a visit to Bellurey Town. It's just a few hours of travel from this island." Her mother informed her. "Oh. Have a safe trip then." Mai replied, not bothering to look away from the window._

"_Oh no. I'm afraid you are gravely mistaken, my dear. This time you will need to come with us. You need to meet your future fiancé, you see." Her mother said monotonously. "Or have you forgotten?"_

_Mai snapped her head at her mother, staring at her. She was trying her best to hide her shock and disbelief. "…Of course I haven't, mother. You have told me that I was to be betrothed when I turn ten."_

"_That's right, dear. Now pack your things. We are leaving in an hour." With that, he mother strutted out of Mai's room._

_Mai just wanted freedom. Was that too much to ask for?_

* * *

Mai came out from her unconscious state, but she kept her eyes closed. She could still taste her own blood, the throbbing in her head was slowly fading away, and her stomach was still sore. The first thing she noticed was her position. She was lying face down, with her stomach resting on something broad. Next thing she notice that whatever was carrying her, is definitely a human, since she could hear someone breathing next to her. Maybe Mai should rephrase that thought as 'Who is carrying her'. Lastly, everyone around her seemed to be in a state of panic.

"-coming at us from behind!" A familiar voice yelled. Mai grunted before she slowly opened her eyes. Her head was still aching, and the sunlight was not helping to reduce the aching one bit at all. She blinked a few times so that she could adjust to her surroundings. "You finally awake, Mai?" Another familiar voice growled out. She turned to the source of the voice, and saw Bart looking at her. She blinked a few more times when she realised that he was the one carrying her. "Mister Bart? Wha..?"

"Are you able to stand on your own?" Bart asked her. "I think so." Bart bent down and Mai slid of his shoulder. She looked at her surroundings again. It was only then she realised that they were not in the auction hall anymore.

"Wait, where's Luffy?" Mai asked no one in particular. She then saw the red head who was in the auction house fighting with a large man who looked like a bear. "This guy isn't gonna let us pass, is he? Trafalgar! You're in my way!" The red head yelled at Law, who just walked out of the smoke, one hand in his pocket, the other holding on to a large katana.

_Wait. Katana?_

She looked down to her left side, only to find her own katanas missing. "And where the hell did my katana go? There's two of them, two!" She heard someone yelp behind her, and she turned around to see two guys. Both of them wore the same uniform, and both wore hats that covered their eyes. The one with the red hat and blue brim looked very nervous. "Um… The guy over there… Kid, has the ability to control metallic things and uh… your katana is metallic so…" He said while pointing at Kid.

Mai's face darkened instantly, and the one with the red hat immediately hid behind the polar bear. "Who's the other guy?" Mai asked the other one with the hat. His hat was black, with the word 'Penguin' printed on the front. "That's Trafalgar Law. He's our captain."

"Do you want me to kill you? I told you not to order me around, didn't I? I'm running into a lot of big shots today. I don't want to meet an admiral on top all of this, so…" A light blue ring appeared below Law's palm. "I shall make you let us pass, Bartholomew Kuma!"

Mai stared at Kid and Law for a moment, before she turned back to the Penguin hat man. "So where is Luffy and his crew?" Mai asked again. "… He and his crew escaped in another direction since the Navy were chasing them." He replied after slight hesitation. He was not lying at all, but he did not tell Mai the whole truth, so it is just a small white lie, right?

Mai knew he was hiding something, but for now, she chose to ignore him. She can ask more about it later. But for now, they need to take down the bear man, or Kuma. "Let's go!" Law yelled. "Tch. I told you that you're in my way! Guys!"

Killer was the first one to attack, but his blades did not even scratch Kuma. The zombie from Kid's crew attacked next, blowing fire out of his mouth. "How do you like that?! He burnt to a crisp!" Killer cheered. "I doubt so. A fire like that probably won't even damage him at all." Mai replied.

As if to prove her correct, Kuma simply put out the fire by swinging his arms. "Back off, Kid Pirates!" Bepo ordered as he, Shachi and Penguin jumped in front of them, and proceeded to perform a series of combo attacks on Kuma. Bepo tried aiming for his face, but Kuma managed to dodge all of his kicks and punches. Bepo changed his approach, and went to kick Kuma's shin.

"That hurts!" Bepo yelled in agony as he quickly retreated back and hugged his leg.

"… If fire doesn't work on him who's to say that physical attacks will work at all…" Mai deadpanned.

Kuma was about to attack Bepo, who was lying on the ground while hugging his poor leg. "Room." The blue hemisphere circled around Law, Bepo, Bart, Mai and Kuma. "Shambles." With a twist of his fingers, Law switched Bepo with Bart, and he immediately went into a wrestling match with Kuma. "It hurts… huh?" Bepo turned around and saw Bart holding Kuma in position. "You okay, polar bear?" Mai asked, giving Bepo a sideway glance. "Huh? Yeah…"

A large metal ring slammed down on Bart and Kuma. Bart managed to dodge it, but the ring hit Kuma. "Wasting my time…" Kid mumbled, and he walked away when he saw Kuma lying face flat on the ground.

"It's not over yet, Eustass-ya." Just when Kid turned away, Kuma got back up on his feet, with no visible damage at all. "I guess that wasn't quite enough, was it?" Kid said as he started gathering more metallic objects to his hands. However, before he was done, Kuma slipped off his hand glove and his palm facing Kid. There was a metal hole on his palm, and the hole started glowing bright yellow, before the hole discharged a laser beam at Kid, who barely blocked it with the metal arm.

"A laser beam… huh?" Mai said softly. "Is something on your mind, Mai-ya?" Mai looked at Law with a blank expression.

"I would do something about that laser beam, but I'm not really in the mood to fight today, nor do I see a reason why I should help a bunch of strangers who hid and took me away while I was unconscious." Mai said as she raised her eyebrow at Law, as if challenging him to deny her last statement. It was easy putting the puzzle pieces together. All she needed now was Law to confirm her suspicions and place the final puzzle piece for her.

"Oh? Quite the deduction skills you have there, Mai-ya." Law chuckled before grinning at her. "However, if you don't want to meet your end here, I suggest that you help us with this battle, regardless of whether you are in the mood or not, Mai-ya." Mai smirked at Law. "Can I trust that you are not the type of captain who tortures his crew?"

"Yes, yes you can."

"Then I'll co-operate with you. For now. I have a plan, but I have no idea if it will work or not, and even if it does, there may another problem that I'll need to overcome. Or rather, we." Mai looked back at Kuma. "What do you have in mi-" A beeping sound came from Kuma.

"You're in my way. Get lost already, Trafalgar! I'll take care of this guy."

"You're the one who's in my way, Eustass-ya!"

When Kuma opened his mouth and was about to fire another laser beam, Mai immediately got into action. She concentrated on the area just in front of the laser cannon's opening. _'Change the air pressure of the opening and the inside… and make the wind travel inside the cannon's mouth.'_

"Pressure." She whispered.

When Kuma fired the laser beam, the wind that Mai created at the cannon's opening made the laser beam blow downwards instead, causing the laser to almost hit Kuma. Kid and Law, who thought that the laser was going to hit them, quickly jumped away, the latter throwing Mai over his shoulder when she was still standing there.

"What the-?!" Kid yelled.

Law landed behind Kuma, still carrying Mai. "Were you the one who did that?"

"Yes, but I would concentrate on the fight first and ask questions later if I were you."

"Are you ordering me?"

"It's a suggestion that I suggest you follow if you don't want to meet your end here." Mai threw Law's words back at him.

"Heh. Room." Just before the blue dome could fully close around him and Kuma, Kuma unclenched his fist and fired another laser cannon at Law and Mai. Law quickly jumped aside, undoing his blue dome in the process. "Despite being a Shichibukai, does he have the brains for anything else other than lasers?!" Law said, slightly frustrated.

"Maybe you should try using that Room when Kuma is busy with something else? Oh and, the plan I had in mind is not going to work on him. With the level I am at now, I can't pull off that kind of stunt yet. Do you want me to take out the Marines instead?" Mai said casually.

'_Marines?' _Law stared at her confusingly.

As if on cue, Law heard shouting. "There they are! Trafalgar Law of the Heart Pirates, and Eustass "Captain" Kid of the Kid Pirates! Don't let them get away!" A group of Marines were running towards them at full speed.

"Damn it! Now even the Marines have arrived! We can't let them hold us off here forever!" Penguin shouted.

"Bepo, we're going to attack him head-on. Let's go!" Bart yelled and ran towards Kuma. "Hey, Jean Bart! You're the new guy! Don't order me around!" Bepo ran towards Kuma as well. Bepo and Bart were about to attack him, when he fired the laser, causing both of them to stop in the tracks and dodge the laser. Immediately after Kuma fired the laser, Killer sliced Kuma's leg, finally inflicting damage. Soon blue electricity covered Kuma.

"Is he really that Warlaord, Batholomew Kuma?" Law began to question. "He seems like a robot to me, with all that lasers and electricity when his leg got cut. So do you want me to take out the Marines or not?" Mai asked again. "That won't be necessary. We just need to make this Batholomew Kuma aim his laser at them. We will handle the remaining later." He made his way over to Kid, who was getting tired from using his devil fruit abilities.

"You know, Mister Kid, while your ability makes you strong, it can also be your downfall if you don't do something about it. You take too long to make that giant metal arm. In battle, you need to be fast." Mai told the tired Kid, who glared at her.

"What, are you jealous that you don't have devil fruit abilities, or are you just mad that I took your katana away just now?!"

"Think of it as constructive criticism." Mai said, completely ignoring Kid's outburst. Law just smirked. _'She is going to be an interesting addition to the crew, along with Bart.'_

The beeping sound came once again, interrupting their little conversation. "Here he comes!" Law warned. Kuma shot the laser at the pirates, who dodged it and the laser landed on the Marines instead. Kuma reached his palm out and fired another beam at Law. Law ran quickly and avoided the beam.

Killer attacked Kuma once again, inflicting damage on his shoulder. Bepo attacked Kuma as well, but he ended up getting pushed away and was sent flying. Bepo placed his hands (or paws?) on the ground to increase the friction, making him stop. He quickly lied down on the ground and feigned defeat. _'Is that supposed to be animal instincts?'_ Mai thought.

Kid was now provoking Kuma on purpose, causing him to fire the laser at Kid. Kid used the smoke and dust from the laser attack as a smokescreen, and repelled the metal objects on his hand. The large metal chunk landed hard on Kuma's stomach, and he flew high in the sky, and landed with his head buried in the ground.

Kid clutched his right arm and trudged over to the fallen Kuma. "There's no way he'd be able to get up after being hit by that attack! We trashed one of the Shichibukai!"

Law looked at the whole situation sceptically. Something was definitely off here. "Bartholomew Kuma wasn't any stronger than this?" Just after Law said that, Kuma became covered in electricity again, and he slowly sat up, causing Kid to back away. "What the hell? This guy, is he an artificial human?!" Kuma prepared to attack Kid with his famous-by-now laser.

Law quickly created his room around Kuma and stabbed him at one of his damaged parts, causing Kuma to ceasefire, and he fell back down once again. Law then walked over to Kid. "Why the hell did you interfere?!" Kid growled.

"You overestimated your own ability, Eustass-ya."

"What?!"

"Did you really think this guy is a Warlord?"

Kid narrowed his eyes upon hearing Law's statement. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We've got more company. We'll talk afterwards." With that they walked away while Bepo and Bart handled the Marines. Everyone else just followed their respective captain at a leisurely pace.

Mai followed behind Shachi and Penguin. She still doubted that Kuma had been defeated, but she knew the pain of someone inflicting damage on a freshly made wound, courtesy of a certain blondie. _'I guess I should be on guard, just in case.'_

"Hey, Trafalger! About what we were talking about earlier, what'd you mean he wasn't a warlord-"

Kuma jumped out of no where and landed in front of Law and Kid. Giving them no time to brace themselves, Kuma launched himself at them.

'_They don't have enough time to dodge!'_ Without thinking, Mai instantly raised her palm, making Kid and Law fly in mid-air. Shachi, Penguin and Mai, along with the Kid Pirates, quickly moved away and made a clear path for Kuma. Kuma crashed into the ground again in an ungraceful-like manner.

"Oh what now?! First that Warlord is still alive and now I'm floating?!" Kid exclaimed.

"Oops. Neither of you happen to be afraid of heights, right?" Mai said teasingly. "We appreciate the quick save, Mai-ya. But can you put us down now?"

"…How do I do that?" It did not even register to Mai what she had just done, or how did she managed to make Kid and Law fly like the wind. "You should still be using energy while you're making us float. Stop using that energy." Law instructed.

Mai did exactly what Law had told her to do, and gravity worked its magic on the two floating man. Both of them landed on their feet easily. "I think it's safe to say that we are not dealing with the Warlord, Bartholomew Kuma here." Law said as he walked towards the Kuma robot, who was still getting up slowly.

"So do we aim for its eyes? Since Kuma is a robot."

"Brat, why would you aim for the eyes?" Mai frowned slightly when Kid called her a brat.

"I concur with Mai-ya. If we are dealing with a robot here, we should aim for its eyes and take away its ability to aim lasers at us."

"Shut up, Trafalgar. I wans't talking to you."

"Maybe you should check your own intelligence before insulting someone, Eustass-ya."

"Guys, Kuma robot is almost standing up now." Mai brought both of them out of their argument. She aimed for one of the robot's wounds and flicked her wrist, sending a gush of wind on the wound. The wind hit the robot, and it fell back down again. "If you want to attack, do it now."

"Room." Once the robot was inside, Law unsheathed his nodachi and sliced the robot up into many parts, rendering the robot immobilised. When the blue dome flickered away, Kid had already gathered all the metal junk he needed, and walked towards the sliced robot.

"Repel." Kid sent the metal chunk flying at the robot's face, successfully smashing its "eyes".

While their captains were giving the final blow to the robot, everyone else just stood there and watched them. Either they knew their captains could handle it, or they were too lazy to bother. After Kid has made sure that the Kuma robot has been defeated, everyone started making their way to their respective captains.

"Hello again, Mister Bart. It's a great day today, isn't it?" Mai looked up and smiled at the large man. "Yes, today is a great day." Bart walked beside Mai, who was still limping a bit. "How did you escape, anyway?" Mai asked.

"Captain Law freed me from slavery. For that, he has my full loyalty. How about you?" Bart replied, before grabbing Mai and placing her on his shoulder. Mai laughed sheepishly before she replied. "The blonde guy we saw just now kicked Justin into a bloody pulp like he was nothing. But that was after I got punched in the stomach." Mai pointed to her stomach.

"Is that why you're limping?"

"Yep."

"You should let Captain Law check on you. I heard he is an expert in the medical field."

"I see."

Comfortable silence took over, and Bart continued walking while Mai stared at the two captains, who were discussing about the Kuma robot. She would be lying is she said she was not surprised that the both of them have not started fighting with each other.

'_I wonder how is Luffy and his crew?'_

* * *

It has been some time since Kid and his crew left. The Heart Pirates were now making their way to Grove 70, where their submarine was hidden. "Shachi, run ahead and signal for the sub to surface."

"Aye Captain." With that, Shachi ran off.

"So, now what?" Mai asked. She really wanted to go out there and find Luffy, but that is impossible now because one, the whole archipelago is in a state of disaster now. Going back there would be suicide. And two, she doubt that her new captor would allow her to go and look for her brother.

"Now, we go back to the submarine and hide there until the situation calms down. And I believe you need a medical check-up, Mai-ya." Law said, not turning to look at her. Mai stared at Law. He was walking at a leisurely pace, one hand in his pocket, the other propping his nodachi up against his shoulder. Bepo and Penguin were following behind.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, the group finally walked out of the mangrove forest and reached the archipelago's shore. Mai could see a large yellow submarine up ahead, with an orange smiley printed on it, same as the one Law had on his hoodie. Beside the orange smiley was the word 'death' printed in large letters. _'So that's the sub…' _It was the first time Mai saw a submarine, and it was quite different compared to what she had imagined they will look like. This submarine seems much… livelier than what she had read in books. Maybe it is because of the submarine's colour scheme?

The group went up the movable step ladder and boarded the submarine's deck, which was larger than the one on the Gringham ship. "Bepo, show Bart around. Both of you come to the infirmary once you're done. Penguin, inform everyone to prepare for submerge in half an hour. Mai-ya, follow me." Mai gently slid off Bart again, and followed Law inside the sub.

The halls were large and tall, and the interior design was not very complicated. There were a few doors along the straight hallway, and at the end it splits into two hallways, forming a 'T' shape. The left hallway led to a dead end, while the right was a staircase that led further down. She followed Law down the stairs, and saw that the current floor had the same hallway design as the first. Law walked straight to the last door on the hallway. He opened it and walked on, leaving Mai to close the door by herself.

She turned around after closing the huge metal door (with much difficulty avoiding any pain) and observed the room. There was an examination bed at the far right corner of the room, with a simple desk just beside it. On the other right corner there are a lot of machineries that looked scary to Mai. On the left side there are rows of shelves and cabinets, most likely for containing equipment, if Mai had to take a guess. The smell of disinfectants invaded Mai's senses. She liked the smell of disinfectants. For some reason it made her feel calm whenever she needed to see a doctor.

The whole room screamed 'clinic' to Mai. Then again, Law asked for Bepo and Bart to stop by the infirmary later. _'So this is the infirmary?'_

Law had already walked over to the desk and was now searching for something in one of the desk drawers. "Go seat on the bed and wait."

Mai hobbled over to the examination bed. She turned around and placed her hands on the bed, before pushing herself up onto the bed. She left her legs dangling over the edge.

Law had finally found whatever he was searching for. He slipped a piece of paper out of the drawer and placed it on the desk, before taking a seat. "Since your joining of the crew is somewhat unofficial, I'm going to ask you now. Will you join our crew?" Mai scoffed at Law. "I didn't know there's a ceremony for newcomers. I guess I'll join for now." Law smirked at her, before his face turned serious.

"I'm going to ask you some questions, and you answer them truthfully. This will go into your medical profile." Mai nodded at Law.

"Name?" "Mai."

Law looked at her. "Your full name, Mai-ya." Mai just stared at Law blankly. She did not want him to know too much about her yet. She decided to tell him when she felt that he could be fully trusted. This is something that not even Luffy or Ace knew about her. "I'll tell you when I feel that you can be fully trusted." Mai said bluntly. Law frowned at her and continued with the questions.

"Age?" "Nineteen."

"Birthday?" "Twenty-third of October."

"Blood group?" "…" When Mai did not answer, Law looked at her again. "You can't be serious." Law deadpanned. "For some reason the hospital I was born in didn't check my blood type so… and I'm serious." Mai said rather sheepishly. Law sighed. _'What kind of doctor would not check a new born baby's blood group?!'_

"I'll do a blood test for you later. Birth place?" "Hollary Republic, East Blue." Law scribbled everything down quickly.

"Height and mass?" "168 cm and… maybe around 50 kg?"

"Devil Fruit?" "Kaze kaze no mi. I can control wind." _'That explains what she has done just now.'_

"Any allergies?" "Do sensitive noses count?" "Yes. They are called nasal allergies." "Then yes."

"Any past surgeries, or past severe injuries?" "Got amnesia when I was ten, but I remembered everything." Law glanced at her, before scribbling on the piece of paper.

'_Here comes the fun part.' _Law thought evilly. He turned to look at Mai with a blank expression. He wanted to see her reaction for this.

"When's your last period?" "About two weeks ago, I guess." Mai replied without any hesitation. Law blinked at Mai, who in turn just blinked at Law. "What?" Mai asked.

"Usually females are quite sensitive about this topic." Law said bluntly.

"Key word is 'usually'." Mai retorted. Law stared at her for a few more seconds before asking her the last question.

"Had sexual intercourse before?" "Nope."

"Once again, aren't females usually sensitive about this?"

"Once again, the key word is 'usually'. You're a doctor anyway, and I see no reason to hide something as trivial as that."

"Aren't you afraid of doctors?"

"Why should I be?"

"So you feel no fear about telling a doctor your when was last period and whether you had intercourse, but you fear telling him your full name." It was not a question. It was a statement.

"My full name is something I rather not say, unless you happen to find out through some means, or I tell you when I trust you." Law could detect a slight emotion behind her voice, but he could not exactly pinpoint what it is. Law sighed and placed a paperweight on the piece of paper. "Take your clothes off, and your bandages if you can."

Mai untucked her sweatshirt and pulled it over her head slowly. Law is not surprise by her lack of female shame anymore. She got off the examination bed and undid her shorts, and stepped out of it carefully. She was able to take out the bandages around her legs and her stomach, but not the ones around her arms. "Uh… a little help?" Mai said timidly. Yes, she was scared of asking for help, especially when it was someone she was not familiar with. It had taken her courage to put her fear away and asked Luffy's crew to help her back at the auction house.

Law went over to her and undid the knot. "Who bandaged this?" Law asked without looking up. "I had to do it myself." At her answer he looked up and raised an eyebrow at her. "You did a poor job."

"I know."

Within a few minutes, he undid the remaining bandages and looked at her injuries. His expression turned dark instantly. He was not liking what he was seeing now. Not one bit. If she was covered with minor wounds, then it was still okay. But this?

Knocking came from the steel door. "Come in." Law said.

Bepo and Bart entered the infirmary. When they saw Mai completely undressed, Bepo blushed bright pink, but Bart just frowned when he saw Mai. Or specifically, her injuries.

Her injuries are swollen, with blood and pus coming out from most of them, her stab wounds was not stitched, and there was a large red mark on her stomach, where Justin had punched her earlier.

Law turned and look at Bepo. "Get Ryan and Edwin, and tell them to bring the bed here. Bart, I'll need you to come back later."

Both of them exited the room. Just after they had left, the sub started shaking. "Wha-?"

"Don't worry. We're just submerging. More importantly, where did you get all these from, and why did you not go to a doctor immediately?" Mai looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. "I couldn't see a doctor." She answered the second question. Law looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to answer his first question.

Then he remembered something.

"_Can I trust that you are not the type of captain who tortures his crew?"_

Law's face darkened even more. "How long did he torture you?" Mai bit her lower lip. _'Of course he would figure it out.'_

"For a week…" Another knock came. "Come in."

This time, two different people came walking in. One of them was pushing a bed on wheels over to the centre of the room. _'Must be Ryan and Edwin that Law mentioned… they look alike.'_

"You coughed up blood just now when you got punched, right?" Mai nodded in confirmation. Law sighed at her. He walked to the row of cabinets and took out a surgical gown. He passed the gown to Mai. "Go to the changing room over there, take out your remaining clothes and put that on."

When Mai was in the changing room, the three men were busy starting up the machines. "Ryan, prepare the anaesthetic." Law ordered. "Aye Captain."

Few seconds later Mai walked out of the room, and placed the remaining fabric together with her shirt and shorts. "Now what?"

"Now, you are going to sleep while I clean your wounds properly and check if you have internal bleeding or not. Go lie down on that bed. Ryan will inject the anaesthetic so just lie down and sleep like a dead person."

Mai raised her eyebrow at Law's choice of words before moving towards the bed. She was not particularly afraid that her condition was so bad that she needed surgery. Like Law said, she was just going to sleep like a dead person while he will do all the hard jobs.

Mai lied down on the bed and Ryan walked over. "Aren't you afraid of getting operated by our captain?" He asked, as if he was stating the most obvious thing in the whole world. "Not really. Should I be afraid that he's the one doing the operation?"

"Usually people would rather die than get operated on by captain."

"Key word is 'usually'." Ryan stared at her weirdly, before he stuck the needle in her arm and injected the anaesthetic.

Mai slowly slipped into unconsciousness for the second time today.

* * *

She felt like there were thousands of needles poking her now.

Mai slowly opened her eyes, and saw the white ceiling. She blinked a few times, getting adjusted to the bright light. "You're finally awake?"

Mai tilted her head slightly towards the right, and saw Bepo sitting on a chair beside the bed. "You're Bepo, right?" The bear nodded at her. "And you can talk?" The bear looked down immediately. "I'm sorry." Mai smiled at Bepo. "I think it's pretty cool that you can talk." The bear looked up at her, obviously happy with her compliment. Then Bepo's eyes widened a bit.

"You've been out for a day. Captain told me to look after you until he comes back." Mai hummed at Bepo's message. "Can you help me sit up?" Mai looked at the bear. "I can't. Captain told me you need to lie down for another 3 more days so that you wounds won't reopen." Mai pouted. She cannot survive lying down for four days in a row. It will drive her crazy if she can't move around.

"Did Law say anything else?"

"I did, actually." Law opened the metal door and walked over to Mai. "You're on liquid diet for a week. Your internal bleeding was nothing too serious, but I rather you not strain your stomach for now. For the next three days, the only time you'll get up is when I change the bandages for you. Otherwise, you be good and lie down. Once you're better we'll discuss about your duties."

"Aye Captain." Mai replied mockingly. Law glared at her for a moment, before turning to Bepo.

"Go wash her clothes. Thoroughly. Whoever you see on the way, tell them to get some soup and bring it here."

"Aye Captain." Bepo did a salute before he left the infirmary. Mai and Law were now alone in the room. Law sat on the chair that Bepo occupied until just now. "Just some rules and regulations that needs to be set straight. Firstly, you will address me as 'Captain'. Nothing else but 'Captain'. Secondly, when I give you an order, you follow it without any questions. Finally, do not order me around. As a member of this crew, I ask for hundred percent loyalty and respect. Do you understand?"

"Yes Captain."

A knock came from the door. "Come in." Law ordered. Shachi came in with a bowl in his hands. Law stood up from the chair. "Make sure Mai eats up. I'll be in my quarters." Shachi nodded at Law as he walked out of the metal door. Shachi made his way over to Mai.

"Here ya go. You must be starving after having slept through a day without eating. I'm sure you know by now, but I'm Shachi. Nice to meetcha." Shachi handed her the bowl of soup before he sat on the chair.

"Mai. Nice to meet you, Shachi." She lifted the spoon carefully to her lips, careful not to spill its contents. Shachi grinned at her. "Penguin wasn't kidding when he said that you're pretty." Mai looked at the grinning Shachi. "Thank you, I suppose."

He watched her as she slowly drank her soup, careful not to spill anything and at the same time mindful about her injuries. When there was only a few spoons of soup left, Mai brought the bowl to her lips and drank the remaining liquid. When she was done, she placed the bowl on her lap.

"For someone who just underwent surgery, you look pretty calm. Especially when your surgeon is our Captain." Mai stared at Shachi weirdly. "Ryan said something like that before the surgery. Am I supposed to be afraid?" Shachi did not know whether to fear for the girl or whether to laugh at her.

"Our Captain has been nicknamed "The Surgeon of Death". Anyone who knew our Captain would be afraid of him, since he is quite well known for being a cruel and heartless pirate."

Mai blinked at him. "Oh. I see. So that's why you were all expecting me to be paranoid?"

Shachi stared at her, stupefied. "I was expecting you to get shocked five seconds ago." Mai shrugged her shoulders and grinned at him. "Well, I'm alive, so all is well!" Shachi laughed at her carefree attitude.

"Although… Captain doesn't torture you guys, right?" Mai asked sceptically. Shachi looked at her. It was hard to tell what his expression was, since his sunglasses covered his eyes. He broke into a smile.

"Captain will never hurt us. Well, maybe when he is super angry he'll use his devil fruit powers on you and slice you up and leave you there to piece yourself back, but he'll never injure us or anything like that. Once you get to know him better, he's actually nice."

Mai could not help but smile at the way Shachi spoke so fondly of Law. His whole crew must have deep respect for that man. At the same time, she could not help but agree that Law is actually nice. _'I mean, just after I joined his crew he already helped me with my injuries. I ought to thank him later.'_

Shachi stayed for another half an hour or so, telling her the different people on their crew, their jobs, and how the submarine works. It was fun talking to Shachi.

He grabbed the bowl and stood up. "It was nice getting to know ya, Mai. Get well soon so that we can show you around!"

"Thanks Shachi!"

And just ten minutes after Shachi left, Mai was already bored out of her mind and was so tempted to defy Law's orders to her. But she really did not want her wounds to reopen…

"Can someone please just come in now and save me from the pits of boredom." She grumbled.

* * *

Law looked at the newspaper in his hands and sighed.

**Countdown To Fire Fist Ace's Execution: 6 Days Left!**

First there was the uproar in the auction house after Luffy hurt a World Noble, and now this was causing an uproar in the archipelago. Hell, news of Ace's execution is definitely going to cause an uproar on a global scale. _'The Marines are walking straight into a war with Whitebeard. They must be mad.'_

He even heard something interesting while he was strolling around the archipelago. Apparently news has gone around that this archipelago was going to do a public live broadcast of the execution. Maybe he should stay here and watch the execution? He was not in a rush to get to the New World anyway.

He rubbed his temple and placed the newspaper article aside.

* * *

Aye guys. Law and Mai finally meet each other!

Gosh, the fight between Law, Luffy and Kid was so hilarious that no matter how many times I watched that scene it's still funny. Chibi Luffy is so cute and funny with his chipmunk voice. And Mai insulted Kid hoho. Not that I have anything against Kid but I figured that I just had to make Mai do that. Mai finally showed one of her techniques!

**Pressure: manipulating the direction of the wind of a certain place by changing the air pressure.**

Just some stuff I learned in Geography: air moves from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure, thus creating wind! :D

Oh and remember how Mai got dizzy and all and fainted in the last chapter? That actually happened to me. Without the fainting part. It was like all of a sudden I had this massive headache and my legs started feeling weak. Everything was blurry and my hearing became really weird. It was that bad that my mum had to hold my arms just to keep me standing. She even said my lips went freaking white. That was probably the scariest thing that happened to me.

And I never knew what my blood group is. Yes Law, you should go and do something about that doctor.


	6. Chapter 6

This is the second last day of our June break before hell starts again and won't stop until September. Save my soul. I have only completed four of my assignments out of seven.

**MsWildLuck: thanks!**

**iiILurvePancakesii: yup she's gonna try, but she's gonna fail because of Law.**

A little reminder: As of now, Law still doesn't know the relationship between Mai, Ace and Luffy. He only knows that Mai somehow knows Luffy, since he saw them talking in the auction house before Mai fainted.

Disclaimer: One Piece is Oda's. Mai is mine.

* * *

The past three days was _hell._

Sure, at least this hell was not as bad as that one week torture hell, but it was still hell, nonetheless. So long as Mai was locked up in a certain area for more than a day, she would classify it under 'hell'. But at least she had visitors once in a while, so it was not all that bad.

Shachi would come and visit her whenever he was not on duty, bringing Penguin along with him whenever he visited. At first Mai thought it was funny that Penguin would print his own name on his hat, but then again, which stranger would ever find out that his name really is Penguin? Penguin was much more shy than Shachi, blushing when he talked to Mai for the first time. But after a few more visits, he opened up eventually, and it turns out that Penguin was as equally cheeky as Shachi.

Everyday Ryan and Edwin would come in and check on her, making sure that her wounds are healing nicely. Ryan was the friendlier of the two, although he was not as open and crazy as Shachi and Penguin. Edwin, on the other hand, was very quiet and reserved. He only talked when necessary. At first, Mai thought they were brothers, perhaps fraternal twins. They both had black spiky hair and light brown eyes. They had fair skin complex and they both even wore spectacles.

So she decided to ask them.

"Are you two siblings?"

Her question caused Ryan to laugh at her, while Edwin just smirked. "We may look alike, but we are not siblings. Don't worry, you are not the first." Ryan replied, and continued laughing.

Once in a while Bepo would come in just because he felt like it. Mai really liked the polar bear. He looked like a large, highly huggable teddy bear. Except Bepo is better than teddy bears because teddy bears can't talk.

And then there was Law. He would come in to the infirmary once a day, to change her bandages.

"I haven't thanked you yet for helping me, have I?"

"No need. I'm just making sure that a member of my crew doesn't get a premature death."

"Well then, thank you."

"Hn."

Silence took over as Law applied something on her healing wounds, before wrapping the bandages around her. "What's that?" Mai asked, eyeing the jelly paste that Law was applying. "Scar removal cream."

This was the third day, meaning she was now free to move around. Once he was done, she got off the –sickening– bed and stretched her sore body like a cat, creating loud cracking sounds.

"Come by the infirmary everyday around 3 O'clock to change your bandages. And by the way," Law threw a small bag at her, and she caught it with ease. She opened and looked inside the bag, and saw her undergarments, with a black cloth resting below it. She took out the black cloth, and realised that the cloth was actually Law's hoodie. She raised her eyebrow and stared at Law.

"Bepo's not done washing your clothes. You can borrow that until he's done. It should be big enough to cover until your knees." Law said casually.

"… Are you calling me short?"

Law smirked and ignored her question. Mai frowned and went in to the changing room. She pulled the gown over her head, put on her bra and underwear, before slipping into Law's hoodie. "Well what do you know. It covered up until above my knees." Mai mumbled. It was nice to finally change out of the surgical gown. She went out of the changing room, and saw that Law was still in the infirmary. Or rather, he was leaning against the desk.

"I guess you're not that shor-"

"I am not short!"

Law chuckled. "Now, about your duties on the sub, I want you to help out in the galley."

"You do not want me in the galley."

"Are you defying my orders?"

"… Trust me when I say you don't want me in the galley."

"And why should I trust you?"

"I blew up the kitchen when I was eleven years old."

"Well, there're three people in the galley to watch over you. They won't let you blow anything up even if it was unintentional."

"Surely you jest."

Law ignored her protests. Mai narrowed her eyes and continued to stare at Law. "If I still somehow manage to blow the galley up, then what?"

"Then I'll give you other duties." Law stated simply and continued to give her more orders.

"Give the gown to Bepo. He'll know what to do with it. Shower before you come here to change your bandage. Rinse with water. Don't use soap. Dry lightly with a towel." He threw another small bag at her. It was slightly heavy. "Go buy some clothes and whatever else you need. I'm not going to lend you mine forever, and I doubt that the smallest boiler suit we have would actually be small enough for you." Mai looked at Law and mumbled a 'thank you', before she walked towards the steel door.

"You're an O type." Law informed her before she left the infirmary.

Mai turned back and grinned at him, before she walked out of the infirmary and closed the steel door behind her. She saw Bepo standing outside the infirmary. "Captain told me to show you around." He explained. Mai smiled at the bear and handed him the gown. Bepo took it without question. "Then lead the way, Bepo."

Bepo showed her around the sub. The sub had two decks. One was the front deck, aka the big deck, and the other was the rear deck. Although the rear deck was smaller since it had a round room situated in the middle, which was the training room. The training room could only be accessed when the sub was not submerged, since there was no pathway from the main sub to the training room.

On the first floor was where the navigation room, the laundry room and the galley were situated. There were some storage rooms as well. When they went to the navigation room, they saw Shachi, Penguin and Bart inside. They were the sub's navigators, although they had nothing to do at the moment and they were just keeping watch through the periscope.

The laundry room was fairly large, with 6 washing machines inside and a stack of plastic trays at the side to place wet clothing.

The galley was empty when they went there, save for the middle-aged chef, Jerry, and his two assistants, Karl and Dyve.

"La- I mean Captain told me that I will be having duties in the galley." Mai frowned as she told Jerry.

"Aye. I heard from the Captain. But why the sad look?"

"I told him I will blow this place up because I suck that much at cooking." Mai said grimly. Jerry burst into laughter. "Who says ya need to cook?! Why don't I let ya do some chopping? Or ya can wash the dishes instead!" Jerry suggested merrily as he continued with his laughing fit.

Mai gave the chef a weird look, before she smiled at him. "I guess I can do chopping without any problems. When do I start?"

"In three days. Captain wants ya all healed up before ya start ya job. Here ya go. Ya haven't had lunch yet, have ya?" Jerry handed her a bowl of creamy looking soup. "A bowl of creamy corn soup to keep yer stomach full while it's still healing. Drink up!" Mai thanked the chef and drank the soup. After a little bit of idle chit chat with Jerry, Karl and Dyve, Bepo brought her to the next floor of the sub.

On the second floor there was the infirmary, Law's room, the crew's bunks, the showers, and Mai's new room. They weren't allowed to enter Law's room, unless he permitted it, and they did not bother going inside the infirmary. There were two bunk rooms, and luckily the shower cubicles were opaque. _'I'll need to buy some toiletries later too…' _

The third floor was just filled with storage rooms, and the fourth floor, which Bepo called the basement, was the engine room, and also where most of the crew were assigned work at. Out of the ten people that were working there, Mai could only remember the names of three of them.

Jove, a pretty tall guy with tanned skin and brown hair styled into a mohawk. He called her short. Mai called him a chicken

Sean, a short guy, but still taller than Mai by a few centimetres, with chocolate brown skin and curly dirty blond hair. She accidentally fell for one of his pranks which was meant for another crew member. He called her stupid. Mai called him shorty.

Nathanael, a guy of average height with messy grey hair. He called her a zombie. Mai called him an old man, even though he was only twenty years old.

"You can call him Nat, since everyone thinks that his name is too long." Jove told Mai. "Nah. I think I'll call him old man." Mai replied teasingly, which earned her a glare from Nathanael.

When Bepo was done showing her around, he brought Mai to her room. It was quite big, since it used to be an old storage room until Law made them clear it out. The floor was made of tiles. There was a single bed in the corner, with a desk near it. Opposite the bed there is a small wardrobe. It was a relatively empty room.

"Captain said we'll be staying here for another three more days. Until then, we're free to do whatever we want, so long as we don't cause trouble." Mai nodded at Bepo. "Hey Bepo, where do you get fresh towels?" Bepo pointed in the direction of the shower room. "There are extras in the shower. We all have our individual towels, for hygiene purposes." The bear explained. Mai thanked Bepo, before he left Mai's room.

* * *

"Hey Shachi, Penguin, are you two free now?" Mai was done familiarising herself with the sub, and was now in the navigation room. She finally found her hair tie lying on the desk of her room, and tied her black locks up into its usual high ponytail. God knows how her hair tie got there in the first place.

"Yeah. Why?" Penguin asked. "Can you accompany me out? Law told me to, I quote, "Go buy some clothes. I'm not going to lend you mine forever." He even gave me money, but I don't think I can carry everything by myself." Mai raised her fingers to gesture Law's quote.

"Eh, why not? We've got nothing to do anyway." Shachi said while standing up from his chair. Penguin did the same, and the three of them went out of the sub. "I heard the shopping district is located in Grove 30, that's pretty far away." Shachi sighed out.

"…. Then I guess we have no choice but to spend the whole day travelling there and back. Hopefully I can find whatever I need within an hour, then we'll quickly make our way back." Mai sighed out as well. She was no longer in as much pain as before, but the idea of walking that far made Mai sluggish.

Luckily for them, there was a shopping mall within the hotel town, and it was only half an hour of travel by foot.

"Where to first, Milady?" Shachi asked in a mocking tone. Mai grinned at him. "Clothes. Duh." And she walked in to one of the boutiques. All the items were priced reasonably. "You should get something that's white, yellow, orange, or black." Penguin advised her.

"Why?"

"Because those are the colours of the Heart Pirates." Penguin replied simply. Mai chuckled lightly. In the end Mai got herself a pair of denim shorts, a pair of black skinny jeans, two plain tees, one white and the other black, and a black jacket. "Do you like denim that much? Do you have something against orange and yellow?" Shachi asked.

"Yes. Denim is good for travelling since it can go for more than a week without washing, and yes, I have something against orange and yellow." Mai said as they walk out of the boutique, with Mai carrying the single bag.

"But you're wearing yellow now!" Shachi retorted.

"I don't really have anything else to wear. Captain said that Bepo is still washing my clothes. And it's black and yellow so it's okay." Mai replied easily.

"Didn't you say you needed help with carrying stuff?" Penguin asked this time. "Something this light? Nah, but I need to get some toiletries as well, which are heavier and I need help for that. Wait here for a moment." Mai passed the bag to Penguin and was about to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

Mai stopped and turned back, before pointing to a lingerie shop. Mai left them there while the two men had nosebleeds.

Ten minutes later, Mai came out with another bag. However, she quickly took the bag Penguin was holding, quickly went into an alley way and dumped whatever she just bought into the first bag, before throwing the lingerie bag into a trash bin. She reached inside the clothes bag and made sure that her clothes were hiding the undergarments.

"… Why did you throw that bag away?" Penguin asked, a bit hesitantly.

"… That bag had pictures of undergarments printed all over it… The shop owner must be stupid…"

Shachi and Penguin immediately went into a coughing fit. Or were they choking? They left the area quickly.

'_One last thing left… Aha!'_

Mai spotted a general store, and rushed towards it. _'One final stop and we can finally go back!' _Mai thought gleefully. Shachi and Penguin followed closely behind her. It was a relatively small shop. Once they entered, Shachi and Penguin immediately went roaming around the shop, giving Mai the privacy to get whatever she wanted.

'_Let's see… Green tea shampoo, soap and conditioner, check. Tooth brush and toothpaste, check. Facial wash, check. Pads… where are they placed? Ah. There.' _Mai somehow managed to hold onto everything by herself, and quickly made her way to the cashier, who is a female, thankfully. Just after the woman placed everything into two different bags, Shachi and Penguin were done roaming around like lost children and waited behind Mai. She paid for her items and turned around. "Whatever you do, don't look inside or I'll kill you." Mai walked off without waiting for the both of them.

"Can we go back now?" Shachi complained. Mai nodded her head. She wanted to get out of here and return to the sub as quick as possible too.

As they made their way back to the sub, Shachi and Penguin were talking about the crazy things that have happened during their travels. Mai listened to their conversation in amusement, laughing once in a while when they told her some of the things they have done before, although most of the time it got them into trouble with Law. After that they would say things like how they can't wait to go to Fishman Island, and how the want to go to the local pubs on the archipelago, and betted who would lose this time in their monthly gamble night.

They reached the sub without any trouble along the way, and the trio dropped the bags off at Mai's room. "Thanks for accompanying me. Can you give this back to the Captain?" She requested, holding up the bag of money. Shachi nodded and took the bag, waving at her before he exited the room. "Bye Mai!" Penguin said as he waved as well and followed after Shachi. Mai waved back.

She took the two bags with toiletries and hid them inside the closet. She then took the bag that had her clothes and made her way to the laundry room. _'Don't want anyone to be going through my things that are lying around on the floor like that… nor do I want to wear clothes that has probably been stepped on numerous times when they're still kept in the warehouses.'_

When Mai went to the laundry room, she saw Bepo in there, taking out her soaked clothes from the washing machine. "I can take over from there, Bepo. You have done plenty enough to help me. Just tell me where to leave them to dry." Mai smiled at the blushing polar bear, obviously pleased by Mai's words. He nodded at her and pointed at a door behind. Mai thanked the bear as he left the laundry room. She took her soaked sweater and shorts, and went inside the room.

'… _It looks like a locker room…?'_

There were rows of what seemed to look like metal lockers. She then saw a notice sign on the wall.

**How to operate the dryer:**

**1. Hang wet clothes on a hanger.**

**2. Place hanger inside the dryer**

**3. Leave it there for three hours.**

**4. Take clothes out when it is done.**

"… How… convenient."

She took the hangers from a nearby shelf and hanged her clothes on it, before opening up one of the unoccupied dryers and left her clothes there to dry.

She went out of the dryer room, and dumped her newly bought clothes into the washing machine. She pressed some buttons, and the machine started to get filled up with water. She sat down on one of the benches and waited for her clothes to be washed.

She remembered back when she was with Dadan they all had to wash their clothes by hand, since they did not have things like washing machines there. But it was always fun. Washing clothes with Ace and Luffy, splashing water at each other and getting themselves soaked to the bone. Good times, good times.

Imagine how hard it was when she had to use the washing machine for the first time on the Gringham ship. They had to teach her how to read the labels on the clothes and what each of them meant, before going into a lengthy explanation on how to operate the machine. They probably took two hours just to explain everything, and all of them definitely frustrated with Mai back then.

Mai thought about some other things too. Like how her stay with the Heart Pirates was enjoyable so far, besides the Captain who's just simply filled with rainbows and unicorns and- okay maybe not. He was nice to her so far, but she had seen his bossy and stubborn side a few times, but she doubted that was the worst of Law. Everyone in the crew is nice and joked around with her a lot, instead of treating her with care just because she was of the opposite gender.

She also thought about some things Luffy told her in the past, like how he become a rubber boy, meeting the Red Haired Shanks, how his relationship with Ace started off on the wrong foot, and how Ace's dad is actually the King Of Pirates, which Luffy was not supposed to mention. Ace was angry at Luffy after that, until Mai told him to forgive Luffy. Seems like Ace was shocked that Mai did not hate him despite knowing that he was the son of a globally hated man. She just shrugged her shoulders at him and smiled, saying that she does not really care about things like that.

Her thoughts then wandered to her birth parents.

Whenever they brought her to the local restaurants to dine, they would always look down on the people working there, as well as the other diners. Her parents would complain about how their food was taking forever to arrive, even though they have only been waiting for five minutes. Then they would complain if the food doesn't come within the next ten seconds they will sue their establishment.

After that they will whine how bad the food is. Mai would always smile at the poor waiters and waitresses, but they did not pay attention to her since she was still a kid back then.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Have I been lost in thought for that long?" Mai mumbled as she grabbed one of the plastic trays and opened the washing machine's lid, took out her clothes, squeezed the water out and placed them on the plastic tray. After which she shook the tray a few times to remove excess water and went into the dryer room again, repeating her earlier movements.

She went to the front deck and sat on the floor, leaving her legs gangling out of the railings. _'What do I do now…'_

She stared at the sea. Surely she couldn't sit down here for three hours straight. Mai listed her options.

One: she will go and talk to someone. Two: she will go and annoy someone. Three: she will go against Law and go to the galley and do some chopping. Four: wander around like a lost soul. Five: train.

"Maybe I should train. It's been a while anyway." Mai said to herself. She did not have that much opportunity to explore her devil fruit and develop new techniques, since she would end up destroying something.

Mai had heard stories about how logia users like herself have the ability to change their physical body –along with their clothes– into the element of their devil fruit, enabling them to be unaffected by physical attacks. However she never dared to try and change herself into wind. She was afraid that she may get herself blown away, or she may not be able to change herself back, since her control over the wind was still not that good. That was why she could not dodge _his_ punch and avoid _his_ torture sessions. _Because she had no control over her powers._

'_So… control, huh?' _Mai thought as she looked down at her hands. How does one train themselves to control the wind? For starters, she was definitely going to need a hell lot of training space. She tried thinking of something, but nothing came into mind. She would ask help from Law, since he is also a devil fruit user. But he already helped her once, actually scratch that, _twice_. First he helped her recover from her wounds, then he gave her shopping money. "No way am I going to ask him for help again." Mai grumbled.

"Ask help from who?"

Mai snapped her head at the source of the voice, only to see Law standing behind her. _'Since when…?'_

"I've been here for a minute or so. I was starting to wonder when you would notice that there's someone behind you." Law said while smirking, as if he read her mind. "So, who was it that you wanted to ask help from?" Law asked once again. He was not going to let the topic drop easily, at least not until he got an answer from Mai.

"Nobody." Mai replied quickly. Too quickly. Law raised his eyebrow at her, not believing her for a second. However, Law already knew who she wanted help from. He smirked at the girl, who was still giving him a look. "So what do you need help on?" Law asked her curiously. Depending on what she needed help on, he'll see if he wants to help or not. He was going to be the judge of the situation.

"Nothing." This caused Law to glare at her. "I don't like being lied to, nor do I like repeating myself. You will tell me what you need help on." He demanded. There was no room for protests.

Mai kept a blank expression, but on the inside she was going haywire. She hated that tone and expression. It reminded her of _him._ She hated asking for help, but she hated being reminded of him even more. If admitting what she needed help on would mean that Law would stop doing that, then she will give in.

Mai looked down to avoid eye contact. "I… need help with controlling my devil fruit." She barely grumbled through gritted teeth. Law's dark look did a 180 degree turn, and became a smirk once again. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it, Mai?" He said mockingly. Mai glared at him, but for a complete different reason of what Law was thinking now.

"Well, I can't really help you with that. You need to train that yourself. As you know by now, I'm not a Logia, unlike you. You just need to find an open space and experiment around."

"Why, thank you for the great advice, Master Law, because that was exactly what I was planning to do." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Law's glare returned instantly. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her so that she was now facing him again. He then grabbed her face with a single hand, and made her look up at him. "I remember telling you three days ago that you shall call me Captain, and nothing else but Captain, and that I ask for your full respect. Have you forgotten?" He growled at her, his glare piercing through her soul.

'_Law's glare makes that person's glare look like a gentle gaze…'_

Mai tried to maintain her blank expression, but it was getting more difficult after every second, and Law did not even need to look at her eyes to tell that she was actually afraid. There were telling signs everywhere. Such as how her arm tensed by itself, and how she was gripping the front of the hoodie.

He maintained his firm grip on her face for a few minutes, before he released her and walked away without saying anything else. Mai's eyes widened in shock as she stared at his retreating figure, before he disappeared into the sub and closed the large metal door.

Once she was sure he was completely gone, she let out a loud sigh and gently rubbed the side of her face. "I should have said no when he asked me to join…" She whispered to herself. She regretted joining him so much now. Being around Law will only remind her about her one week hell. But she should not waste her time brooding over that. She really wanted to start improving her devil fruit abilities.

Now that she thought about it, she needed to do something about her lack of katana now. She felt exposed and vulnerable without them. She would go and buy a new one but…

'… _I don't want to get cheap blades that break easily… and the good ones aren't exactly that affordable…'_

Mai let out another sigh again. All the problems are stacking up one after another and it seemed as though there was no end to it. She was falling deeper down into the endless pit of depression.

She punched herself mentally. "I should be counting my blessings, not my misfortunes! Go away negative Mai, go away! Start thinking positively! There has to be a way to go around these problems." She mumbled harshly to herself.

If she was lucky, maybe she can kill two birds with a stone.

'_Wait. What did I just think of?'_

Mai went deep into thought for a minute or two, before her expression broke into a smile.

'_I am a genius.'_

* * *

Law was now in the sub's infirmary, reading through some medical notes and some of his crew's profile. Or more specifically, Mai's profile.

He was not exactly pissed off with Mai. He was just irritated at her after what happened on the deck. Little did he know that while he was feeling annoyed at Mai she was already out there being happy and all.

He continued to stare at Mai's profile. He found himself staring at her name more than anything else. Just what was it so important that she did not want to tell him her family name? The girl has quite the interesting character, but she was annoying, like a child. Law knew that she was just the carefree type of person. She would say something smart once in a while, or she may insult whoever she wanted whenever she saw fit, like what she did to Kid. At first Law thought they had a similar mindset, and that it would be nice to have someone like her on his sub.

Well he thought wrong, and she proved him right today. She was definitely annoying. Why can she not be like the rest of his crew? From the very first day they joined, not once have they broke the rules on the sub. Not one time have they disrespected Law and his decisions, they have always called him 'Captain', and they have showed him their loyalty. Why is it that Mai cannot do the same?

He let out a sigh and pinched the area above his nose. Maybe he should have listened to the person who said that it was a curse to have a woman on board… nah. He was going to make life a living hell for her until she learns that he is the boss in the sub, and she must follow everything he says.

Although, he could not help but think how hard she was trying to look unaffected in front of him just now. It was clearly evident that she was afraid of him already. It was a good sign for Law. All he needed to do now was to make her miserable and make sure she will not go and defy him again.

* * *

Mai was on the deck for two and a half hours already. And she was making good progress with her training.

During that period, she channelled the wind to her palm, and tried to shape it into a blade; long, thin, and sharp. It was a pretty smart idea to Mai. She had already came up with a name for her new technique: Wind Blade.

Learning how to channel the wind on her palm was not much of a difficulty to Mai, nor was the shaping part difficult. The most difficult part was trying to maintain that control and to hold out for as long as she could before the wind blade dispelled from her hands. And another difficult part of this was that she took up to much time to form the blade. At least she managed to solve two of her problems at the same time. She was getting a good idea on how to control the wind on her body and she has a makeshift katana now. Mai was so pleased with herself that she had long forgotten about her previous encounter with Law.

It occurred to Mai that it was weird how she was able to change the wind movement of another place, when she did not even have what seemed to be like the basic control. Usually people will think that the former action will require more control and concentration than the latter, so it struck Mai as weird how she was able to do that.

"What are you doing?" Mai turned around and saw Bepo standing just outside the sub's door, his head tilted to the side. She smiled at him. "Training." Her reply confused Bepo even more.

"But you shouldn't be moving around too much with all that injuries."

"Silly, I'm not talking about physical training. I'm trying to learn how to control my devil fruit powers, and that does not require any vigorous movement." She told Bepo while still smiling at him. "I'm sorry." Mai laughed. It was amazing how the bear can make her this happy without trying at all.

"So, is there a reason why you're out here?" Mai asked. Her question caused Bepo to look up in realisation. "Dinner is in half an hour. Shachi and the others wanted to ask you if you wanted to with them." Bepo told her. It was now her turn to tilt her head to the side. "What's the time now?"

"It's going to be seven soon." Mai widened her eyes. _'I've been up here for this long already?' _It was only then she saw that the sky was already orange. She looked back at Bepo. "Do you mind telling them I'll be at the galley later? I need to finish up my laundry first." The bear nodded at her before he went back inside. Mai stood up, and made her way to the dryer room.

* * *

The crew just had their dinner, and right now they were playing poker while sitting on the floor in the galley, as part of their monthly gamble night (although Mai was convinced that they gambled on every other day). Actually, it was only Shachi, Penguin, Jove, Nat, and Sean who were playing poker. Mai kneeled behind Penguin and watched how he played, while Bepo was sitting behind their circle watching from a distance, together with the three cooks.

Mai could not understand a single thing they were doing, nor could she understand a gibberish they were talking about. They would say things like "fold" and "raise" and other mumbo jumbo that she could not understand. In the end she gave up trying to and went to sit with Bepo, Jerry, Karl and Dyve on the long bench, her back leaning against the long table.

"Gave up understanding poker?" Dyve asked her. She nodded her head and pouted. Dyve just laughed at her. "If you want we can explain the game to you." Karl offered, taking a sip of rum from the bottle in his hand. Mai shook her head. "I probably wouldn't understand anyway."

"You'll never know till you try." Dyve tried convincing her. Mai shook her head again. "I don't really gamble, unless it's on a special day like birthdays and new year."

The five of them silently watched the noisy group as they played poker, until Jerry spoke. "So ya said something about blowing the galley up this afternoon?" Mai grinned at him. "When I was eleven, my caretaker taught it was smart to let me cook alone in the kitchen. I ended up setting the kitchen on fire." She smiled to herself. She missed Dadan and the others badly. Her six years with them was the first time she had so much freedom. Jerry started laughing hysterically that tears came pouring out from his eyes, while Karl and Dyve chuckled.

He cooled down after five long minutes of laughter, and wiped the tears away. "Oh my… now that was a good laugh. Speaking of which, can ya get the Captain here? If he doesn't come soon his food will go cold." Jerry asked Mai.

Mai almost frowned at Jerry's request. Almost. She really wanted to decline it and hope that he'll ask someone instead… She really did not want to see Law for a while. But how could she turn down a request from someone as nice as Jerry?

She smiled at him. "Okay." She stood up and left the galley.

She went to the infirmary, and knocked on the door twice. A few seconds passed and she did not hear a "Come in" or anything. She opened the door and peeked inside, only to find it empty. She blinked, and closed the door. _'If he isn't here…'_

There was only one other place that she could think of, and that was his room. She sighed, and turned into another corridor, and bumped into something. Or rather, someone. She looked up, and saw Law looking down at her, with an amused smirk on his face. Mai stepped back immediately to distance herself away from the Captain.

"And may I ask where are you going?" He asked, with an amused tone. "Mister Jerry asked me to get you before you food gets cold." She replied, looking at Law with a blank expression. He hummed. "I was just about to go there myself anyway." He walked toward the stairs leading to the first floor. Mai stared at his back for a moment, before following him to the galley.

Both of them walked in silence. Mai was very tense, but she had this feeling that Law was just amused by the whole situation. It felt as though Law had completely forgotten about what happened this afternoon.

The pair entered the galley, where the same group of people were still playing poker. "Hi Captain. Wanna play a round?" Shachi asked casually. Mai looked at Shachi as if he was crazy.

"Later." Law did not even look at them and went straight to Jerry, who held Law's dinner in hand. "Here ya go Captain."

"Thanks." Law took the plate of food from Jerry, before he sat beside him and started eating. Mai went back to her original seat beside Bepo, and continued to look at Shachi, Penguin, Jove, Nat and Sean as they continued with their game.

"Do they do that a lot in front of Captain?" Mai whispered to Bepo.

"Only after dinner when everyone is off duty, except for the lookouts and the navigators when we're sailing. Captain seldom plays poker with them though." Bepo whispered back. Mai nodded her head slowly in response.

"Hey shorty! Why don't you learn how to play? Since you're a pirate you should learn poker!" Jove called out to her. "I am not short!" Mai yelled back at him. She could barely hear Law snickering beside Jerry, and sent a glare towards him. "So how about it shorty? Wanna learn poker?" Jove asked again, a smug look plastered on his face. "No thank y-"

"Actually, I think Mai would be more than delighted to learn how to play." Law cut her off and walked towards her. She glared at him even more. "Weren't you eating?"

"I've cleared my plate already, if you haven't noticed." Law said, smirking at her. He bent down his upper body and whispered in Mai's ear. "Until the day you've learnt your place, I will make you as miserable as possible."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the poker group, who had already widened their circle for Law and Mai. She sat down in between Penguin and unfortunately, Law. She wanted to be as far away from the Captain as possible. Mai did not bother hiding her frown. She crossed her legs Indian style, causing Jove, Sean and Nat, who were directly opposite of here, to look away instantly. She raised her eyebrows at them and lifted up Law's hoodie, revealing a pair of shorts. "I'm wearing shorts inside, idiots. Do you think I'm that stupid?" The three of them glared at her, while she just smiled at them innocently.

"So you playing, shorty?"

"I am not short."

"Yeah right. Most women are a hundred and seventy. What are you, a hundred and sixty?"

"A hundred and sixty-eight."

"Doesn't change the fact you're below the average height of a woman."

"Shut the hell up before I-"

"If the two of you would be so nice as to stop bickering so that we can start." Shachi interrupted their fighting.

"But even if we start Mai wouldn't know what we're doing." Penguin said. "Then we'll just have to teach her, wouldn't we?" Law said evilly.

"I swear the whole lot of you had a secret meeting on how to make me miserable." Mai grumbled.

Nat started going into a ten minute long explanation on how poker is generally played, and the different kind of poker hands that can be made.

"So basically, two people will be forced to bet at the start, then we'll be given two cards, and then there's the preflop, flop, turn, and river round, where we can give up, match our bet with the big blind, or raise our bet by doubling the amount of the big blind, except for each round there're some special rules?"

"Yep."

"That's confusing. Can I just fold for every game?"

"No." They all replied in unison, while smirking at Mai.

"You guys are unbelievable. Where did you even get those chips anyway?"

"For us to know, for you to take forever to find out." Sean said mockingly.

Shachi shuffled the deck of cards, before dealing each person a card. Everyone looked at their cards, before placing it on the floor face up. Mai saw the rest of them, and just flipped her card over without looking. _'If they're going to reveal it anyway what's the point of looking at it in the first place…'_

"Looks like you're the dealer, Jove." Shachi said. Jove simply shrugged his shoulders and took all the cards back, before shuffling them and handing everyone two cards.

Mai took her cards and looked at them. Seven of hearts and eight of spades. She could feel Law peering over her shoulder, since he was around a good twenty centimetres taller than her. She looked up at him, and saw that he was looking at her cards. He then smirked at her.

"Uh… Stupid? You shouldn't let other people see your hand." Sean informed her. Mai shrugged her shoulders, her frown never leaving her face from the moment she got dragged into the game. "Do I care? I'm not trying to win here anyway."

"But the loser has to do cleaning duty for a week!" Penguin exclaimed.

"Does that include that Captain?"

"Of course not." Nat replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Then where would the fun be?" Law looked at her in amusement.

"Among us." Jove retorted.

* * *

Mai covered her mouth as she yawned, causing her to tear up a little. She rubbed her eyes, before Law slapped her hand away. "Don't rub your eyes." Mai just hummed in response.

It was going to be one in the morning, and Mai started feeling tired half an hour ago. Jerry and Dyve had already retired for the night, whereas Bepo was still watching them play, and Karl was drinking his fourth bottle of rum for the night.

"You feeling tired already, Mai?" Penguin asked. It was a wonder to Mai how is it that they are still wide awake and were as equally noisy as they had been few hours ago. And honestly, Mai did not expect herself to stay this long in their poker game. It was clear that she was the one losing here, but like she had said earlier, she was not planning to win a single game at all.

"Hey, the night's still young. Aren't zombies supposed to be sleepless creatures?" Nat asked the sleepy Mai mockingly. "Shut up, you old man…" Mai grumbled, before she let out another yawn.

"Okay Mai. We get it. You're tired. Go to sleep." Shachi said knowingly. It was amusing to everyone how the usually noisy and snappy Mai was so much like a child when she was sleepy. The group of males almost thought that sleepy Mai is cute. However, a certain captain did promise Mai that he was going to make life a living hell for her, so…

"No. Let her stay for one last game." Law told the group while smirking evilly. Mai did not even bother replying. She was so sleepy that her brain to could not come up with a comeback, nor did she have the energy to glare at all. She was concentrating her last bit of energy into keeping herself awake.

"Can I fold?" She asked while rubbing her eyes again.

"No. And didn't I say not to rub your eyes?"

Shachi, the dealer this time, gave out the cards to everyone. Mai quickly looked at her cards, not bothering to remember her hand.

"I fold." Mai said when it was her turn. "But Captain said you can't fold." Penguin said teasingly. Mai grumbled out something incoherent, and saw that there was no bet on the current round. "Check." And it was Law's turn.

The game continued for half an hour. Whenever it wasn't Mai's turn, she would pay no attention to the others around her, and close her eyes until Law would wake her up rudely even if it was not her turn.

By the time the game was over, it was a little past one thirty. Mai had lost the game, again, not that she cared. Immediately after the game, Mai curled up into a ball and closed her eyes. She could probably spend the night sleeping on the galley floor, since she was too tired to even stand. "Okay Mai, you can return to your room and sleep like a log now." Shachi said.

She ignored him and remained in her curled up position, until she felt someone pull her up by her left arm. When she stood up, she stumbled a few times before she finally stabilised her footing, the person still holding onto her left arm firmly. "I think that's enough for tonight, Mai." Law said. Even though her eyes were still closed, she could hear Law smirking. Yes, _hear_.

'_Oh the irony…' _Mai thought.

Law began to lead her out of the galley, while she kept her eyes completely closed. She followed wherever he pulled her to, until he suddenly came to a stop. "Mai. Open your eyes. I'm not going to catch you if you fall down the stairs."

Mai barely opened her eyes, and kept her eyes on the steps so that she would see where she was going. The moment they reached the second floor, she closed her eyes again, and followed wherever Law pulled her to. She did not trust her Captain to lead her anywhere safely, but right now she was not going to bother about that. So long as she wakes up in a bed the next morning, she will gladly sleep walk and let Law drag her to god-knows-where.

Law continued to tug her by the arm as he led her down the hallway, headed towards her room. He opened the door, dragged her to the front of the bed, and released her arm. Mai stood there for a few seconds, before she felt a bed touching the back of her knees. She plopped down on the bed, and proceeded to remove her combat boots –with her eyes still closed– before she dropped her whole body on to the bed and immediately fell asleep without covering herself with the blanket.

The captain sighed at her. He was so tempted to leave the girl there, and let her catch a cold for not keeping herself warm. Law sighed again. "Fine…" He mumbled, giving up with his inner debate on whether he should blanket her or not. He took the folded blanket resting at the foot of the bed, unfolded it and covered the sleeping figure. Almost after Law did that, Mai grabbed the blanket and snuggled further into the blanket's warmth.

Law raised his eyebrow in amusement, and stared at her for a few seconds. She was curled up, one hand resting under the pillow while the other hand grabbed the blanket.

She really did look like a little kid.

* * *

This is a filler chapter, if you didn't know. Next chapter we're going to the doomsday AKA Ace's execution ):

Stupid Law. You're just treating Mai exactly the same way Justin treated her when you're on the deck. *sighs and shakes head*

I know absolutely nothing about poker, and I'm just writing down whatever understanding I got about poker through watching videos, so if you see errors anywhere, do inform me so that I can make the respective change.

Sleepy Mai is a cute Mai, admit it.


	7. Chapter 7

*Sniffle* Why did Ace have to be gone ;_; He was one of my favourite characters *sniffle* And Luffy back at Marineford was just simply heart-breaking :(

Note: I made some slight changes regarding Killer's epithet. Thanks ShadowWolf0101 for pointing that out!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Oda does.

* * *

It had already been a week since Mai had come aboard the yellow submarine and had –stupidly– joined the Heart Pirates, thinking that she had nowhere else to go at that moment when the whole archipelago was in havoc, thanks to her hyperactive younger brother.

She was now lying on her new bed, her bandage dressing had already been removed an hour ago. She had to admit, although she was slightly wary of Law, he was darn good in his profession, both as a Captain and as a doctor. But there was no way in hell she was going to tell him that, or to anyone in the Heart Pirates, for that matter.

Then again, some of that credit must be given to everyone else who had been (ordered by Law) looking out for Mai. Apparently everyone on the crew had some basic knowledge on first aid and other medical stuff, under Law's tutorage. The only one who did not have any of that basic knowledge is Mai, since she just joined recently. And Bart already had some prior knowledge.

Back to the point, Mai was trying to get some eye shut. For the past few days she had trouble sleeping at night. She would usually knock out somewhere before midnight, but for the past two nights, sleep would not come to her at all. No matter how tired she was, no matter how many times she changed her sleeping position, she just could not fall asleep. Something was bothering her, and she did not even know what was causing her to be restless.

_Knock knock_

Mai grunted. She really needed a nap so badly right now. Sighing, she kicked the blanket aside and got out of the bed, and opened the door, only to be met with Bepo in his usual orange boiler suit. "Captain wants to see us up on the deck."

Mai nodded at him as she went back inside to put on her footwear, before she got out of her room wordlessly, closing the door behind her. She followed behind Bepo while the both of them made their way up to the deck. Mai took the hair tie out from her wrist and tied her black hair up, letting her bangs –that were now slightly beyond her brows– rest freely on her forehead.

When they got up to deck, Mai saw Law, Shachi and Penguin waiting for her and Bepo. As the pair approached them, Mai could not help but notice Law as he raised his eyebrow at her. "You look like you have been sleep deprived." Law stated, expecting her to give an explanation.

"The same goes to you, Captain." She was feeling a tad bit foul due to her lack of sleep, and she was trying with all her might not to snap at her Captain. Mai took pride in being a person with good self-control.

Law stared at her for a moment, before he handed Bepo his nodachi. He turned around and started walking down the step ladder, stepping into Sabaody Archipelago once again. Shachi, Penguin and Bepo followed after Law, and Mai followed behind the trio. "Where are we going?"

Her questioned caused Law to halt in his tracks, the other two men and bear doing the same. Law turned back to her and gave her a confused look, which surprised Mai a little. "We're going to watch a live broadcast from Marineford of Fire Fist Ace's execution. Haven't you heard about it while you were shopping three days ago?"

Mai's eyes widened. _'What?!'_

"Who's going to be… what?" She asked, hoping that she had heard him wrongly the first time. Either she heard him wrongly, or it was an entirely different person. She was praying for either one of them.

"Fire Fist. Whitebeard Pirates Second Division Commander. Portgas D. Ace. How can you not know him?" Shachi asked Mai in disbelief. Mai felt a lump forming in her throat gradually. She tried to swallow the lump down, but it stubbornly remained there. "Oh." She barely croaked out, and looked down at her feet, not daring to look at any one of them. The four of them looked at her weirdly, puzzled by her reaction.

Law observed her for a moment trying to pick up something about her body language. However, all he could tell that she was clearly displeased to hear the news. _'Must be past lovers.' _Law dismissed that train of thought, and continued walking to where the live broadcast will be held. Throughout the rest of the journey, Mai never looked up as she simply followed where they went by looking at their feet.

When they reached the live broadcast site, overcrowded would be an understatement to describe the place at the moment. Reporters throughout the whole Archipelago gathered at this place to be the first one to get all the information necessary to produce their front page article. That, and there were many other civilians who were either curious or worried whether Whitebeard will appear to retrieve his Second Commander or not. And if he did, what was going to happen?

Law could spot some of the fellow Supernovas who decided to stay behind in the Archipelago as well to watch the execution. Luckily for him and his crew, they managed to find themselves a place to settle down (which happened to be a pile of crates, just like when he was watching Urouge and Killer fighting each other). Mai sat down on a crate next to Penguin, still looking downwards. The air was thick with tension.

"Hey, look! It's starting!" A man yelled, pointing towards the large screen that would be showing the broadcast. Mai looked up, and saw that the broadcast has indeed started. The crowd fell silent as they looked towards the screen.

It showed Ace kneeling down on a platform, his hands handcuffed behind his back. Beside him was Garp and Sengoku. Her eyes soften upon seeing Garp and Ace side by side. "Garp Ojiisan… Ace…" Mai muttered out unconsciously. It was nice to see them again, but not like _that_. Despite her current depressed state, she could not help but to be amused that Garp still had not lash out at Ace yet. Usually it would take just ten seconds for Ace and Luffy to piss him off, before he threw them into the jungle.

But maybe that was exactly why Garp was not lashing out on Ace. _Because Luffy was not there._

However, Mai did not realise that Penguin had heard her. He turned to her when she muttered out their names. "Do you know them? I mean, personally?" Penguin asked her rather loudly, causing Shachi, Law and Bepo to turn away from the screen and looked at her. She ignored Penguin's question, and continued to focus on the screen

Law too, was rather curious about her relationship with Ace, as well as the Straw Hat. "Mai, is there some sort of connection you have with Fire Fist and a high ranking Marine?" Law repeated Penguin's question, completely ignoring the fact that she was quite despondent at the moment.

Mai looked at Law, and gave him a weary smile. "I think you'll find out soon enough."

Law gave her a sceptical look, while the rest stared at Mai with a confused expression.

"L-L-Look! Whitebeard has arrived!"

Everyone's focus was back on the screen, where a ship had just crashed into Marineford. Members of the Whitebeard pirates got out of the ship and charged towards Ace, while the Navy soldiers began with their defence.

Mai clutched onto the crate she was seated on tightly, praying to the gods above that they would free Ace.

"Now that Whitebeard has arrived, let's see how the war will unfold itself." Law mused. He knew full well that after this war, a new age will arrive. The war at Marineford was the centre of everything, just because one of the important crew members of the Whitebeard Pirates was to be executed.

"Do you think Whitebeard will be able to free Fire Fist?" Penguin asked, worried about what the battle will bring in the future. "Whitebeard is strong. I mean, he's one of the Four Emperors after all. Then again, the Navy has some tough people, especially those among the higher ranks. And then there's the Shichibukai who are fighting along with the Navy… who knows what will happen?" Shachi contemplated over the current situation at Marineford. If he had to make a guess, it seemed very likely that the Marines will emerge victorious, in terms of manpower.

As a pirate himself, he did not like the idea of Marines winning. So Shachi was cheering for Whitebeard wholeheartedly.

* * *

An hour has passed, and things were looking quite good, at least, to Mai.

Luffy had finally arrived at Marineford, after which he declared that he was going to save Ace, and that screamed he was going to become the Pirate King in Whitebeard's face. She almost laughed, if it were not for the fact that Ace was about to be executed. She allowed a small grin when everyone watching the broadcast was so shocked by Luffy's actions that their eyeballs almost popped out, including Shachi, Penguin and Bepo. Law, on the other hand, masked whatever emotion he had. Basically, ever since Luffy's arrival, she had been feeling a bit better.

After Luffy arrived with a group of prison escapees, the tables turned in favour of the pirates. Mai could now bring herself to look at the large screen without fear. Now that Luffy was here, he would get Ace out, no matter what. Marines were being defeated one after another. She felt like she could place all her hope on her childish brother.

And then Luffy just _had _to tell the whole world that he is Ace's brother. Mai let out a sigh. She could feel four pairs of eyes on her, and could feel the silent question they wanted to ask. _'Did you know about that?'_

But she ignored them and continued watching the broadcast. Very soon, she would be dragged into one hell of a mess even though she was not part of the battle at Marineford.

"What are you doing?! Don't let the rookie take control of the war!" Sengoku yelled through the Denden Mushi. "He's also a loose cannon," Sengoku continued. "Straw Hat Luffy is the biological son of the Revolutionary Dragon. He grew up with Ace as his step-brother, who is the biological son of Gol D. Roger. They also grew up with their step-sister, Mai the Wind Sorceress."

"They mean that Dragon?!"

"Head Office! I'm calling from Sabaody! We've got big news! Spread this all over the world!" A reporter said hastily, determined to be the first to get an article published about Luffy, and perhaps Mai too.

Mai turned to look at the Heart Pirates, who were by now gaping at her. Shachi, Penguin and Bepo had their jaws slacked. Even Law did not bother trying to hide his shock at the revelation of Mai being the step-sister of Ace and Luffy.

"I told you you'll find out soon enough." Mai said in a half-hearted tone, thoroughly amused by the reactions she got from the Heart Pirates.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Penguin shrieked at Mai. He was having difficulty trying to digest what he had just heard, same with Shachi and Bepo. Law was the first one to snap out of it. "Is that why you didn't tell me your full name?"

"I… guess you can say that." She replied after slight hesitation, even though Ace and Luffy had nothing to do with her family name at all.

The war continued raging on for what seemed like an eternity. Luffy was getting more beat up after every second, but not once did he stop to rest, and not once did his determination waver. He had already encountered quite a number of the Seven Warlords, and numerous Marine soldiers. And he managed to evade all of them, either by himself, or another pirate backed him up.

'_To think that someone as naïve and stubborn as Luffy could get so many comrades just like that, and he's gotten so strong…' _Mai thought wistfully. She almost felt envious of him, for having such determination that his fear seemed non-existent. For having comrades –which she was pretty sure that those pirates were not from his crew– that he could rely on; not that she did not have her own comrades. She had the Heart Pirates now, and they all seem decent. But could she put the same amount of trust in them as the amount of trust that Luffy had for pirates that he had only met for the first time? She highly doubted it.

Just three years ago she could have sworn that Luffy still had insufficient control over his rubber body, making him easy to defeat in hand-to-hand combat. But now? He was way out of her league. In a way it was nice seeing her younger brother get so strong, but then a painful realisation dawned upon her.

What on earth was she doing here, when Luffy was there at Marinford, fighting with everything that he has got? She knew that Law would never let her go there, even after the knowledge that she, Ace and Luffy were raised together. He would not risk the rest of his crew just for a single newcomer, and nor would he let her go alone. If only she had never met Law at all, she would have been there at Marineford.

The only reason she met Law was probably because she got so beaten up one week ago. If she were to go down to the root of this whole entire situation, it would be three years ago when she was too weak to stand up for herself.

In her train of thought, Mai started piling up all the 'What ifs' one after another.

"Huh? They're getting ready for the execution."

Mai was brought out of her brooding and refocused on the screen. Indeed like the man had said, there are two executors standing beside Ace now, their swords resting near Ace's neck.

"Wha… What are they doing?!" Mai clenched her jaws tightly, and scowled at the executors. She could hear the panic whispers about how the Navy are prepared for the execution earlier than the announced time from the audience.

Just then, two of the videos have been cut off, leaving one video running. However, a message appeared on the last running video. "Please wait a moment?" Penguin read the message aloud.

"It seems like they're planning something, if they're pushing the execution ahead of schedule. The fact that they have cut off two of the video Denden Mushi means that whatever they are going to do will not be pleasant." Law was not really that interested whether Fire Fist will be executed or not. Truth to be told, he was just here to kill time. But with the situation going on now, he could not help but get interested with the war. Mai continued scowling at the screen.

The message was soon taken away, only to reveal a scene of Whitebeard being stabbed by someone. After which, he was accused of betraying his allies in exchange for Ace's and his crew's safety, before the final video was cut off.

Everyone started going into a frenzy, demanding the Navy soldiers in charge of the broadcast to fix the problem so that they can continue watching the battle.

Law had enough of this farce. He stood up from the crate he was sitting on. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Mai narrowed her eyes at Law, wary of whatever he was planning to do in his head. He ignored her and started walking to the direction of the sub, Shachi and Bepo following after him.

Penguin stood up and placed his hand on Mai's shoulder, as a kind gesture. "Let's go. We wouldn't want to fall behind." She looked at Law walking away and frowned, before she stood up and started walking away reluctantly.

"Whitebeard sold out his allies? That's stupid. He wouldn't do that, that's why he's a living legend!" Law said to no one in particular. Just when things were starting to get interesting the Marines decided to stop the broadcast. "Let's set sail, Bepo." "Aye aye Captain!"

When they reached the sub, they could see some of the crew members either lazing around on the deck, or they were sparring. "All of you, prepare for submerge in ten minutes. Edwin, have you finished stocking up on our medical supplies?" Law turned towards the medic, who nodded at the captain. "Good. Shachi, Penguin, help out in the engine room. Go to the navigation room when you're done. Bepo, Mai, follow me."

Penguin gave her a quick wave before he ran off to the engine room with the rest of the crew members. Mai frowned as she followed Law and Bepo into the sub. All she wanted to do right now was to lock herself up in her room and shut her brain out.

Law led the both of them to the navigation room, where Bart was stationed at. "Bart, set the course for Marineford, full speed. Mai, take a seat." Law ordered as he settled down in front of the meeting table. Mai and Bepo gaped at Law, while Bart began with his preparations.

"B-B-B-But Captain, the war at Marineford-!" Bepo stammered, not understanding why the Captain would choose that course of action. "We will only go there to help Straw Hat-ya. He may be a rival for One Piece, but it would be such a waste if he ends up losing his life saving Fire Fist. Besides, I'm quite interested as to what will happen at the war." Law explained to Bepo.

Bepo slowly digested the information. "Should I inform everyone about this?" Law nodded at the bear. "Please do." At the Captain's confirmation, Bepo went towards the intercom to relay the message (Few seconds later Mai could hear screaming from the engine room).

"If I'm not mistaken, it will take approximately forty minutes to an hour to reach Marineford." Bart informed Law. "Then we better hurry, seeing how we won't be able to get any updates on the war when we're underwater. I'm sure Miss Mai over there is the most anxious one among us."

Mai glared at Law, before she took a seat at the meeting table, opposite of him. "As much as I am thankful for your decision to head for Marineford, why? You don't seem to be the type who would risk his crew just to help a rival."

Law hummed for a moment, thinking about how he should explain it to her. "Honestly, if they didn't reveal the fact that you are step-sister of Straw Hat-ya, I would not even think about helping him. Now that I am armed with this information, helping Straw Hat-ya may prove to be helpful to us in the future."

"So what you are saying is this: I can now be used as a bargaining chip so that you can use Luffy and his crew in the future."

"Intuitive as ever, I see."

Mai narrowed her eyes as she continued to glare at him. "Using me is one thing, but using Luffy is another. If you ever do that, I will make you regret it."

Law shrugged off her threat, thinking that she was not strong enough to even inflict any damage on him.

A knock came from the door, before it was opened as Shachi and Penguin entered the navigation room. "We're ready to submerge, Captain." Shachi said as he did a salute. Law nodded and turned to Bart. "Bart, if you would please." The large man pushed one of the buttons, before the whole sub started to shake. Once the shaking settled, Shachi and Penguin took a seat as well. "Captain, why are we going to Marineford?" Shachi asked. Law gestured to Bepo, asking the bear to explain on his behalf.

Law turned his attention back to Mai. "So, step-sister of Fire Fist and Straw Hat-ya, huh?"

She stared blankly at Law.

"Now that I think about it, the three of you do look alike. With that black hair, eyes, and fair skin, people would think that you three are biological siblings." Penguin statement caused Mai to let out a small smile.

"How long were you raised with them?" Law asked, completely unaffected by Penguin's sudden input. "For as long as I could remember." Lie.

"Do you know who your birth parents are?" "No." Another Lie. Law looked at her with his calculative grey eyes, but Mai had somehow managed to maintain her straight face. Maybe it was because she was more afraid for Ace and Luffy than she was afraid of Law now?

"I remember you mentioned something about having amnesia when you were ten. What was the cause of it?" Law's question caused Shachi and Penguin to gasp, while Bepo stared at the group. Bart glanced at Mai with his eyebrow raised.

"That's a rather sensitive subject, I'd rather not discuss about it." She replied curtly. They were not going to find out about her past anytime soon. Hopefully, they will never find out at all. Law did not fully accept her answer, but he was going to let the matter slide for now. "Tell me more about Fire Fist and Straw Hat-ya."

She immediately became cautious. It may seem like an innocent question, but Mai's 'don't trust anyone' alarm was ringing loudly right now. "They are carefree individuals. However, it's hard to say what they're like now. I haven't seen Ace for three years, and last week was the first time I've seen Luffy since I was kidnapped. He still seems pretty much carefree, though."

Law continued asking Mai more questions about her past with Ace and Luffy, to which he could tell that she was purposely giving him vague answers, while keeping a straight face. They continued talking for another half an hour or so, before Bart interrupted them. "Captain, at our current speed we should be reaching in five minutes. However, we're currently below an ice range, so we can only surface once we are out of range."

Law nodded at Bart. "So Mai, do you think you're ready for whatever you're going to see?" He asked, in a slightly mocking tone. She glared at the Captain. How dare he say something like that when he knew that her brothers are stuck in a war, and one of them is to be executed?!

Thankfully, Bepo intervened in the soon-to-be argument, and for that Mai was grateful. "Captain, we have reached the point where it's not frozen!"

Law reached for his nodachi that was leaning against the table. "Take us up." He ordered. The sub started shaking once again, except this time Mai could feel the sub tilting upwards. When the sub returned to normal, Law stood up from his chair and began to walk out of the navigation room. "All of you follow me."

Mai stood up immediately and followed after Law, while the rest tagged behind Mai. When they reached the deck, Mai was met with a very ugly sight. The fortress that was still standing just less than an hour ago was almost demolished, pirates and soldiers were still fighting one another, dead bodies were lying everywhere, but it was that clown that appeared in the broadcast that caught her attention.

The clown was flying, while holding a large blue man, who was holding Luffy. A very beaten up Luffy who is unconscious. "L… Luffy?" Mai whispered. How did Luffy get so beat up…? She was brought out of her daze when she heard Law.

"Drop Straw Hat-ya here!" Law yelled at the flying clown. The clown frowned at Law, clearly unhappy that he was being ordered around. "Who the hell are you, brat?!"

"Straw Hat-ya will be my enemy at some point, nevertheless there is still honour as rivals. There's no point to let him die here. I'm going to help him get out of here. Let me take care of him!" Mai stared at Law as he yelled back at the clown, before she looked back up. "W-What?!" The clown did not trust Law to take care of Luffy.

By now, Law was started to get impatient with the clown. If he does not pass the two unconscious men soon, they would be in big trouble. One of them would be the Marines, and the other… well… Mai. He and the rest of his crew could tell that she was beyond livid.

"I'm a doctor, so hurry up and hand Straw Hat-ya to me!" Law urged the clown once again, but he remained stubborn, which is a very idiotic move. "Don't kid with me! Doctors don't carry swords! Do you visit your patients by a submarine?!"

Mai felt her last restrain snap, and without warning she jumped up as high as the clown was, using the wind to levitate herself. "I will only ask you once. Where is Ace, and what happened to Luffy?" She asked in an icy calm tone, before she quickly added, "And I will have you know that I'm their step-sister. If you decide to remain uncooperative, I will kill you." Usually Mai was on the receiving end of death threats. But right now, she had half the mind to go and kill someone –which is something that she had never done before–

The clown's face paled instantly, when he realised that she was indeed the Wind Sorceress. How else could she be staying up in the air at the moment? He gulped, before he replied. "Straw Hat got injured badly by Akainu, and he went unconscious after…" He trailed off.

"After what." Mai demanded. The only response she got was the clown pointing towards the battle grounds. She turned around and followed where he was pointing towards to. She regretted it immediately.

Ace was lying there, in the middle of the battle field, with a hole through his middle, and blood spluttered everywhere. "A-Ace?"

She could barely feel herself slowly moving towards where Ace was, but the clown shouted at her. "Don't go there! Fire Fist may be gone, but you still need to look after Straw Hat!" When Mai turned around to look at the clown, he saw that the anger was no longer in her eyes. Instead, there was nothing. It was empty. The shine that was present just now was now a dull, black orb.

Mai looked back at the unconscious Luffy. She felt as if her heart had just been ripped out by force, she was feeling numb all over. "Can you… please put both of them down on the deck?" Mai chocked out, covering her mouth as she bit tightly on her lower lip to prevent herself from doing anything stupid.

Just before he could reply, Mai felt something shining from the corner of her eye. By instinct, she moved out of the way, as well as the clown. A yellow laser appeared in front of them, and disappeared quickly. Mai turned to look at where the laser come from, only to see Kizaru sitting casually on one of the ships.

"You're too slow! Hurry and put Straw Hat-ya here!" Law yelled again from below. This time, the clown finally gave in. "Alright! Alright! You can have him!" With that, he threw both of them down. "What are you doing?! Don't just throw them down!" Mai screamed at him. He held both his hands up in self-defence. "But they were caught by your friends…" Mai glared at the clown, before she went back to the deck.

"Get them in the infirmary!" Law ordered, before he started running towards the door. Bepo and Bart had already brought Luffy and the other man inside the sub. They were now rushing to escape before Kizaru attacked them again. Even though her crewmates were in a rush to leave, Mai stayed rooted to the deck.

"That's enough!" A scream came from one of the Navy soldiers, causing everyone to cease their attacks and stared at him. However, Akainu became angry at the soldier, calling him a 'coward', and was about to strike him with his magma arm, however, he was blocked by a sword.

Mai could feel her eyes widened. That was the very same man who gave Luffy his straw hat! "Red Haired… Shanks?"

Law took that moment and ordered everyone to get ready for submerge, but he noticed that Mai was still standing there. "Mai, we need to leave now."

She ignored him and continued to look at Shanks, until he turned around and looked at her. He picked up Luffy's straw hat and smiled at her, throwing the hat to Mai. She caught it with both her hands, and looked up at Shanks again. "Look after Luffy for a while, would you?"

Mai nodded at him hesitantly. She turned around and walked towards the sub's entrance, where Law was leaning against the metal frame, and Bepo was panicking beside him.

"What you did just now was reckless." Law scolded her as she walked past him. She stopped and looked straight at Law. He was expecting her to ignore him, or maybe glare at him, but what he got instead was a hollow laugh. "You know, there are people who are too sad to even cry." That was all she said before she walked inside the sub.

Bepo stared at Mai's retreating figure, and heaved out a sigh. "Captain… will she be alright?" Law continued leaning against the frame, staring at the Red Haired Shanks as he declared the end of the war. "Who knows." He pushed himself off the frames and made his way to the infirmary, where he was about to prepare for surgery. Bepo closed the door behind him, and the sub started shaking.

* * *

"_Well then, I'll be going ahead!" Ace grinned like a Cheshire Cat, one of his foot stepping on the land, the other standing inside a small fisherman boat to prevent the boat from going anywhere. He swung his rucksack over his shoulder. _

"_You may be leaving earlier, but I'll be the one who finds the One Piece first!" Luffy exclaimed at his older brother. Mai smiled at them. Today, Ace was going to leave the little island and become a pirate, and the mountain bandits, village master, and Makino had come to see him off as well. "Be careful, we still need to see each other again when Luffy sets sail." Mai said as she placed her hand on Luffy's shoulder. Ace chuckled, and placed his other foot in the boat._

"_Take care, Ace!" Luffy waved at Ace as he was about to leave. "Yeah. See the both of you soon! I'm going now!" Ace said as he grabbed the oar. Luffy nodded at him. "I'll be a lot stronger when I leave in three years!"_

"_Really now? You should try getting stronger than Mai first." Mai laughed at Ace's comment, whereas Luffy pouted. He started to row the oar, pushing the boat away from the island. "Good luck Ace!" Luffy yelled again, beaming at his older brother. Everyone else started waving and yelling their well-wishes to Ace._

"_Hey Ace! Promise that we'll see each other again!" Mai yelled, as both of her hands were waving. Things were going to be a little lonely without Ace, but it was only going to be three years before she will set sail with Luffy. They will be able to meet Ace then, right?_

"_Yeah! Just you wait, I'll make my name soon!" Ace stood proud and tall on the boat, waving back at the group._

_The boat slowly disappeared into the horizon, and the group stopped waving. "He's gone." Luffy said, his smile still stuck on his face. Mai could hear the village master sighing loudly. "I wonder what Garp would say."_

"_I bet he'll go into a rampage, maybe kill Dadan for 'not raising the brat properly', and then he'll throw Luffy into the jungle, or maybe beat him up. Whatever it is, it won't be good." Mai said teasingly as she glanced at Luffy, whose face was starting to pale tremendously. _

"_No! I don't want to die early! Mai help me!"_

* * *

"Some promise that was…"

Three hours. For three hours she sat outside of the infirmary like a lost puppy. She was waiting for someone, _anyone,_ to come out of the infirmary and tell her how Luffy was. Her eyes were locked on to the straw hat that she had been fiddling with ever since she sat on the floor outside of the infirmary. She did not even look up when Law and Bepo went inside.

The door opened, and Mai snapped her head up. Shachi, Penguin and Bepo came out.

"How is he?" Mai asked, her voice was filled with sadness. Shachi smiled at her, in an attempt to make her feel better. "Captain managed close up the major injuries. Right now they're just inside to keep track of his vitals to make sure that he's fully stabilised."

"I…see." Mai felt relieved, but she could not bring herself to feel happy that Luffy was alright. "Mai? Are you all right?" The bear asked her softly. Mai could feel the other two hushing Bepo to keep quiet, before she heard Bepo apologising.

She looked at Bepo and gave him a smile, and she was sure that it was a pathetic smile. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She lied.

Shachi and Penguin glanced worriedly at each other. They could tell that she was far from fine. Her eyes betrayed her. Penguin was the first to react by grabbing her arm and pulled her up. "What are you-?"

"We'll go to the galley and get some water, and then we'll get some fresh air." Without waiting for Mai to respond, he dragged her down the hallway. Shachi and Bepo followed behind, the bear cheering on about getting fresh air.

When they got to the galley, Penguin pushed her down on the bench, and he walked off to get some water with Shachi. They came back and placed a cup in front of Bepo and Mai. She stared at the colourless liquid, and grabbed the cold ceramic with both of her hands. She drank the water, feeling how the water felt icy as it when down her throat. Heck, everything felt cold. She placed the cup back down.

She barely registered getting pulled to the navigation room to tell Bart to surface, before she got dragged to the front deck. Bepo was the first one to rush out of the door. "Snake?!" Bepo's cry caused Shachi and Penguin to run out of the sub, Mai dragging her feet across the wooden surface.

"Why is there a snake here?!" Penguin yelled. The fog was starting to clear away, and Mai noticed a Navy ship on their right. "Look." Mai pointed towards the ship. Bepo looked up and saw the ship as well, until his eyes reached the top. "There's someone there! The Warlord Boa Hancock!"

Hancock jumped of the ship and landed on the sub's deck gracefully. Her eyes trailed to Mai, who stood unfazed under her glare. She pointed at Mai and arched her back until she was looking backwards. "Who are you?! Have you done anything to my beloved Luffy?!"

Without missing a beat, Mai replied coldly. "I'm Mai, Luffy and Ace's sister. You were saying?" Hancock immediately snapped her back up straight and stared at Mai. "Hmph. No matter. You will forgive me because," She paused and flipped her hair. "I am beautiful." Mai glared at the older woman, before she asked bluntly. "Why are you here with the Marines?"

"Don't worry. I turned all the soldiers into stone. So how is Luffy doing? Is it bad? He'll recover, won't he?" Hancock fired the questions all at once.

Just then, Law came out of the metal door, cleaning his hands with a cloth. He gave Mai a quick glance, noticing how dejected she looked, before looking at the Shichibukai. "I did everything I could. We were able to stabilise him. However…" He trailed off. Mai looked at him nervously.

"He took greater damage than you think. There is no guarantee that he'll survive yet." Mai sighed and rubbed her right temple, feeling an ache forming there.

"It's no wonder!" A male voice yelled from above, and everyone looked up. "Straw Hat boy could not even stand up at Impel down!" The owner of the voiced jumped off the Navy ship and landed on the Heart Pirate's deck, causing it to bob up and down a few times.

"I can't believe that he pushed himself so hard. That's how much he wanted to save his brother Ace!" He held his arm up and clenched his fist, and his tone became soft. "But that brother died in front of his eyes while saving him…"

Mai looked at the large man with wide eyes. _'Ace died in front of Luffy…?'_ Law looked at her without any expression. "What a tragedy… I wish I could take his place!" Hancock cried as she buried her face in her hands. Mai glared at Hancock.

"Hey wait, you can't walk around yet!"

"Captain told you to rest! Your wound could open again!"

The blue man that was with Luffy walked up to the deck while clutching on to the metal door frame for support. "Jinbe!"

"You are Trafalgar Law, aren't you?" Jinbe asked. Law nodded in confirmation. "Thank you for saving me." He thanked the Captain.

"Go rest. Or you would die." Law said bluntly.

"I can't… When I think about what will happen when Luffy wakes up…" Jinbe trailed off, fearing what will happen.

"There's no point worrying now. Either way Luffy will have an emotional break down. No matter how much you worry about it, it won't change the damage that has been done. So just go back inside and rest." Mai told him and looked at the blue man straight in the eye.

"Who are you?" He asked. She hesitated for a moment, but she did not let it show. "Mai." His eyes widened in surprise for a moment. "…I am sorry for your loss." Mai made no attempt to reply, and instead nodded her head.

Bepo had already gone off to find a Denden Mushi for the Pirate Empress, so that she can call some ship for them to cross the calm belt. Law thought that it was unnecessary since the submarine was able to travel through the calm belt without any difficulty. However, Hancock paid no heed, and called the ship anyway.

* * *

To be honest, I'm not quite satisfied with how this chapter turned out. It feels like Mai is not being sad or depressed enough. So I tried reading other fanfics and took note of how they managed to make me empathise with the character, but I still think it's quite a bad job. Oh well.


	8. Chapter 8

I saw the reviews for the previous chapter while I was still in school. During recess, actually. And it made my day when by quickly. I think I went a bit giddy after I saw them.

Disclaimer: I would ask Oda to feature me in OP, and make me part of Law's crew, and then make the both of us otp hoho.

* * *

"Captain, it has been two weeks since we're here."

"I know. What's your point, Ryan?"

"Straw Hat hasn't woken yet. And Mai… she hasn't been eating much, nor has she talked to anyone ever since we have arrived."

Law sighed and placed the rum bottle on the ground, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Try getting Shachi or Penguin to talk to her. They're close to her."

"Well they did try for the first few days we're here, but she didn't even look at them."

"Then how about Bart or Jerry? She could never refuse a request from either one of them." Law tried again.

"Well, they tried doing that too…"

Law looked at Ryan, waiting for him to continue. "But she ignored them as well."

Law sighed again. He knew that she was very sad over Fire Fist's death, but to the point that she's neglecting her own health? The doctor side of him was slowly taking over.

"Is something the matter?" Jinbe walked up towards Law and Ryan. The Fishman had not fully recovered, but he was well enough to walk by his own. Law looked up at Jinbe. "Mai. She hasn't gotten over Fire Fist's death." He said bluntly.

Jinbe remained quiet for a moment, as if he was pondering over something. Finally, he spoke up. "Will it help if I tried to talk to her?"

Law raised his eyebrow at his suggestion. So long as it would get her to start talking again, it will be worth the trouble. "You can try getting her to reply. My crew has tried talking to her, but they didn't get any sort of reply or acknowledgement."

The Fishman nodded at Law, before he walked to the shady areas near the trees. Mai was still sitting on the same grassy spot, her back leaning against the tree bark. When he sat opposite of her, she did not even look up at him. Instead, her soulless eyes continued staring at Luffy's straw hat.

"If it weren't for Luffy, I would have killed myself by now."

Jinbe looked at Mai, his eyes widened by a fraction. Law just said that she did not talk at all for two weeks, and now she was initiating a conversation with him? _'What a weird girl…'_

Mai slowly looked up from the straw hat, her eyes meeting Jinbe's. She blinked a few times, waiting for his reply. It took a few seconds for Jinbe to snap out of his shock, before he replied her. "So you're keeping yourself alive for the sake of Luffy?"

"Something like that."

Jinbe almost frowned at Mai. He had heard about her before from Ace. He described her as a "very strong and patient sister that they needed". At first Jinbe thought that she was the type who looked at the bright side of things, the type who would move forward quickly and not linger too long in her past, just like Ace and Luffy. Was he wrong?

"You need to find your own purpose of living too, just like how Ace and Luffy had their own goals they wanted to achieve."

Mai tensed when he mentioned Ace. "…I realised that. In fact, I already know that Luffy does not need me to keep track of him anymore. He has friends of his own now. He doesn't need someone like me anymore. All I can do now is to give him all my support without being there physically. "

This time, Jinbe frowned at her. Did the girl really think that lowly of herself? He wanted to open his mouth to reply, but got cut off.

"But… I've promised Mister Shanks to look after Luffy. Once he's emotionally stable again, I will leave with the rest of them."

The Fishman looked at her for a moment, before reaching a hand up to rub his temple. _'She's quite in a mess herself…'_

"What if Trafalgar Law decides to leave before Luffy becomes stable?"

Mai's expression immediately turned sour as she remembered the conversation she had with Law two weeks ago.

"_So what you are saying is this: I can now be used as a bargaining chip so that you can use Luffy and his crew in the future."_

"_Intuitive as ever, I see."_

"He wouldn't do that."

Jinbe raised an eyebrow at her brief reply, but he did not press further.

**BOOM! CRASH!**

The Heart Pirates immediately became alert and ran to the sub, including Law and Jinbe. Mai, however, remained seated as she sighed. _'He's finally awake…'_

Luffy started running around and screaming for Ace. The Heart Pirates tried to hold him down, but Luffy would just push them away and started running again, until he finally disappeared into the jungle of Amazon Lily.

"What will happen if he continues running like that?" Jinbe asked Law. The Captain glanced at the Fishman, before he replied calmly. "Simply put, his wounds will open, and he may die this time."

Mai heard Law and sighed again, before she stood up. Everyone looked at her cautiously. "Where are you going?" Shachi asked her.

"Going to find him, and have a long talk." She replied emotionlessly before she slowly walked down the path that Luffy had created.

Everyone else watched her as she disappeared into where Luffy had gone to moments before. Jinbe turned to Law. "Will she be alright too?"

Law smirked at Jinbe's question. "You tell me. You were talking to her until Straw Hat-ya went amok. Will she be alright?"

Jinbe looked at the path of fallen trees. "They'll be fine."

* * *

Mai followed the path of the broken tree trunks. She could still hear Luffy screaming for Ace, followed by the sound of more crashing. Went she came to a clearing, the screaming had stop.

Luffy was now kneeling on the ground and crying. She had never seen him cry like that before. No. She had **never **seen him cry before. Her eyes soften. To be honest, she had no idea how to approach him now, but she did anyway.

"Luffy." She softly called out to him. He paused and sniffled, before he looked up at her with his teary eyes. "Mai… Ace is not really gone, is he?" Luffy asked desperately. Mai looked down to avoid eye contact, and did not reply.

"Hey… he's hiding somewhere, right?" Luffy tried again, his voice wavering. This time, Mai looked up at Luffy with her soulless eyes.

"…He's gone, Luffy. He's really gone." She said tiredly, walking up to Luffy, as he continued to cry and scream.

Once she reached in front of him, she bent down and pulled him into a hug, one hand rubbing his back to comfort him. Luffy did not return the gesture, and instead he continued crying. She continued holding him as he wailed, until he finally settled into soft sobs, calming down eventually.

Once Mai could feel that he was completely calm, she slowly let go and sat down on the grass patch in front of him. "Better now?"

Luffy nodded at her, his eyes still watery. She smiled softly at him, taking his straw hat and placing it on his head. "I believe you dropped it."

Luffy reached up to touch his straw hat. It felt nice to have it back on his head. "Thanks."

The two siblings sat in silence as both of them closed their eyes to mourn for Ace. Mai was the first one to open her eyes, and Luffy followed after a few seconds. He looked at Mai with his red eyes, swollen from crying. "Mai, what do I do now?"

She looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. Was he affected so much that he was overlooking the most important thing? If anything, Mai felt that she should be the one asking that question. "Don't you have a crew? And what happened to being Pirate King?"

Luffy blinked at her a few times, before he responded. "I guess… I kind of forgotten about that for a moment. Thanks Mai."

"You're welcome."

The silence took over again, until Luffy asked her another question.

"_Hey Mai, have you remembered anything about your past yet?"_

Her eyes widened at his questions. That question was exactly the last thing she heard from Luffy three years ago. Upon remembering how she had to lie to him back then, she broke into a gentle smile. This time, her answer was going to be different.

"Everything. Do you want to hear about it?"

Luffy gave her a grin. It was not the usual bright grin that he always had. His eyes were not as lively as it had been when she saw him in the archipelago. However, Mai could see a hint of excitement in his eyes, and that was improvement in Mai's book. He nodded vigorously at her.

She returned Luffy's grin with her own, but she was hoping that he could not see through her mask. She did not need him to be worrying about her now in his current state. Thankfully, he was too eager to learn about her past without noticing her sadness. "But you can't tell anyone. Promise?" She asked Luffy, holding up her little finger.

He reached his hand out for Mai's finger, and wrapped his little finger around hers. "I promise!"

'_Hey Ace, I hope you're here. You would want to hear this, wouldn't you?'_ She maintained her grin, and started telling Luffy about her past.

She watched how his expression changed throughout the whole entire time she was talking to him. From shocked, to disapproval, and happiness, then anger, and the list continues. However, his face brightened the most when Mai told him about the shipwreck she had that leaded to her meeting with Ace and Luffy.

"Were you happy with us?" Luffy asked, any previous sadness could no longer be seen. This time, Mai gave Luffy a genuine smile. No grief, no pain, no mask. "Luffy, the six years I have spent with the both of you was, no, is the best thing that has ever happened to me since my existence."

"By the way, what happened to you three years ago? You didn't answer me back at Sabaody." He asked again curiously. Mai stared blankly at him for a moment, before she pushed herself up from the ground. "It's about time we go back. We have been gone for quite a while, and you should be hungry right about now."

As if on cue, Luffy's stomach started to grumble. Mai's answer caused Luffy to pout at her, causing her to laugh softly. "I'll tell you on the way back." With that, Mai walked back to the direction she came from.

Luffy's grin returned as he jumped up from the ground and caught up with her.

* * *

After Luffy and Mai went inside the jungle, the Heart Pirates were tasked with the sub repairs after Luffy destroyed some of the equipment, which took them about a good one hour to complete. After they were done with the repairs, they just sat at the bay relaxing. Shachi entertained himself by fishing and Penguin was keeping a lookout with his binoculars.

Law on the other hand, was getting a bit worried. Mai was already gone for more than an hour with Luffy. The Straw Hat had ceased his screaming a while ago, so what was keeping the both of them so long? _'If it turns out that Straw Hat-ya really did reopen his wounds and die…'_

Law was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of water splashing. "I got one!" Shachi exclaimed as he reeled in a fish and grabbed the fishing line, holding the fish up.

"Hm?" Penguin looked out at the sea. He could have sworn he saw something…

"What's wrong Penguin?" Jerry asked. Since they were provided with food by the women on Amazon Lily for the past two weeks, the three cooks took the opportunity to get a break from their duties.

Just then, a Sea King jumped out of the water with blood coming out from its mouth. When it landed back on the water, it stayed floated on the surface. The Heart Pirates immediately became alert.

"Something just killed a Sea King that big! I couldn't even see its attacker!" Penguin yelped as he continued to look through his binoculars.

A person emerged from the seawater just below the bay where Law and the others were currently seated at. _'Why did I not notice his presence just now?' _Law thought as he narrowed his eyes at the approaching person.

"That's… that's t-the…" Bepo stuttered as he stared at the man in shock.

"I'm beat…" The man said as he climbed up to the bay, stopping in front of the Heart Pirates.

"Dark King Rayleigh?!" Everyone exclaimed. For most of the crew, it was their first time seeing the living legend, but not for Law, Shachi, Penguin and Bepo. This was their second time meeting him.

"Oh, didn't we meet at Sabaody Archipelago? Trafalgar Law, if I'm not wrong." Rayleigh said as he looked at the Captain. The others were too shocked to even say anything, so they all stood there and continued gaping at the old man.

"You see, my ship sank during a storm, so I had to swim all the way here. Seeing how you're here, I would assume that I can find Luffy and Mai here, since I saw the bear over there carrying her back at the auction house." Rayleigh explained, looking towards Bepo while squeezing seawater out from his shirt. The bear hung his head low and muttered out an apology.

Rayleigh scanned around the area, but he could not see any of the two siblings anywhere.

"Straw Hat-ya ran into the jungle and Mai went to look for him. They have been gone for-" Jinbe paused his explanation when he heard talking from the jungle. Soon, Luffy and Mai appeared. Rayleigh stared at the both of them and chuckled. "Well, looks like their back."

The Heart Pirates and Jinbe looked at the both of them, trying to figure out if they had already calm down or not.

Luffy was the first one to notice him. "Old man Rayleigh! What are you doing here?"

Mai looked at the man. _'Rayleigh? Why does that sound so familiar?' _The more she thought about it, the more she felt like the answer was slipping away from her. She finally gave up and asked Luffy. "Do you know him?"

Luffy gave her an excited grin. "He's Silvers Rayleigh, the first mate of the Pirate King!"

Mai widened her eyes. She looked at Rayleigh, then Luffy, and back to Rayleigh again. The older man just laughed at her. "It's nice to finally meet you. Luffy has told me about you back at Sabaody." Rayleigh said as he walked towards Mai and extended his hand. Mai looked at it for a moment, before she took his hand and shook it.

When Rayleigh looked at her, he noticed the great resemblance she had with Luffy and Ace. Her eyes, however, looked tired, with dark bags underneath her eyes. Whereas Luffy, well, looked as cheerful as usual. "I must say, Luffy's description of you is an understatement. You are truly a beautiful young woman." Rayleigh complemented her.

Mai raised an eyebrow at Rayleigh's complement. She faked a smile that she was sure that the Pirate King's first mate could see through. "Thank you."

Upon seeing her smile, the Heart Pirates broke into a sigh of relief. At least they now know that she was feeling better than before. However, Law was the only one who could see through her. When she heard the sighs, she turned to look at the crew.

"A-Are… are you okay now?" Bepo asked Mai hesitantly. The rest of the crew glared at Bepo, save for Law. He was just looking at her with interest. Mai looked at the polar bear and gave him a –fake– reassuring smile. "I'm fine now." The crew sighed in relief once again.

Jove pulled Mai away from Luffy and Rayleigh and started nagging at her. After a while Jerry joined in the scolding and fussing over Mai together with the other Heart Pirates who knew her. "When the next meal comes, I'm going to make sure that ya eat ten servings worth of food to make up for the lack of food ya had for two weeks!"

Law looked at the group as they circled around Mai and kept telling her not to do that again. He could tell that she was uncomfortable in her current situation and was being overwhelmed, but he ignored the girl and walked towards Rayleigh, Jinbe and Luffy.

"Trafalgar Law. Thank you for saving Luffy." Jinbe thanked Law. He shook his head. "No need. Straw Hat-ya needs two weeks of absolute rest. We will be taking our leave soon." Law then turned towards Luffy. "Do you need to say anything else to Mai before we go?"

Luffy grinned and shook his head in response. "Thanks for helping me!" Suddenly, Luffy's face turned serious. "If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be fine now." He said. The other three men instantly knew that Luffy was talking about Mai and his own emotional state.

"Even though she says that she's fine, I know that she's not. She likes to be happy and free."

Law stared blankly at Luffy, waiting for him to continue. "Since you're leaving soon, take care of her in my place. She's always the one looking out for others instead of herself. It's time that she starts relying on others. If I can't be the one to do that, then you do it, since she's part of your crew."

Law frowned. He hated being ordered around, by someone younger than him no less. Nevertheless, the Straw Hat does have a point…

He sighed and rubbed his temple for a second. "I'll have my crew to be around her as much as possible, but I'm not going to promise anything,, Straw Hat-ya."

Luffy grinned at the older Captain. "Thanks again!"

"Captain! We're done loading the supplies on the sub. We're ready to go anytime!" Bart yelled. Law turned around and nodded at him. "Prepare to set sail now." He turned back to look at the group. "We'll be taking our leave now. Do thank Boa Hancock for letting us stay here when you see her."

Rayleigh chuckled and pushed up his glasses. "We will do that."

Law nodded and turned to walk back to his sub. He heard Luffy shouting from behind. "Mai! Don't forget what I told you earlier!"

Mai, who was making her way back to the sub, looked at Luffy. She gave him a –fake– grin and yelled back. "I won't! See you soon Luffy!" She waved at him.

He waved back. "Okay!"

* * *

Luffy, Rayleigh and Jinbe stayed on the bay as they saw the Heart Pirates off.

"She's gone again." Luffy sighed. He was slightly depressed that they did not have much time to catch up with one another.

Jinbe looked at Luffy, before his eyes widened when he remembered something. "Luffy, there is something that you must know about Mai for the past two weeks."

Luffy looked at the Fishman curiously. "Eh? What happened?" Rayleigh too, was looking at Jinbe with interest.

Jinbe gulped before he replied. "She hasn't cried once, Luffy."

Luffy broke into laughter. The two older men stared at him in disbelief.

"She'll be fine. She doesn't cry easily like other girls!"

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow at Luffy's answer. "Is she really that strong minded?"

That question caused Luffy to stop laughing. His face turned blank. "She is strong minded. But…" Luffy trailed off, before he continued. "She needs someone to stand up for her. She can't do that for herself, she'll feel bad about it. That's why she's always giving in to others."

Luffy stared at the empty spot where the submarine had been earlier, and grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"But I think she'll be fine with them."

* * *

That's it for the Marineford arc!

Mai's still not crying. Ohhhhh.

What do you think?


	9. Chapter 9

**iiILurvePancakesii: Yep. I find it amazing how Luffy recovered quickly in the anime haha.**

**MsPatricia: Not that she is finally starting to trust Luffy, because she had always trusted Luffy :D Remember how in chapter 1 it says that Mai didn't want to tell Luffy because she didn't want to remind him about Sabo? And you'll find out what Luffy told her soon… maybe many chapters later? Hehe.**

**Dhalmi93: Glad that you enjoyed it!**

**Arrow-chan3: Don't worry, I do plan to continue this story until the very end :)**

**angryHarlequin: Thank you!**

Anyway, my school had a Youth Day and Racial Harmony Day celebration two weeks ago, and we were allowed to wear our ethnic costumes to school. So I wore my yukata that my dad got for me a few years back, and I was gushed with complements. So I'm gonna share my happiness with my fellow readers hoho.

P.S. One of my teachers could tell that I was mixed blood. Oh my.

* * *

Mai was lying down face flat on her bed, stuffing her head in the pillow. The past one week her daily routine had been the same. Wake up at 6 am and help out with breakfast, eat, wind training, lunch duty, useless nap time, dinner, more training, and then she will go to bed.

Or at least try to go to bed.

Ever since the Heart Pirates left Amazon Lily, Mai was starting to eat better, but apparently not enough to keep herself healthy, according to Jerry. She could not help it. Every single time she ate, she will start thinking about Marineford, and she will lose her appetite all together.

And ever since Marineford, she had nightmares. Horrible, bloody nightmares. Most of them were centred around either herself, Ace, Luffy, Justin, and the list goes on. It was either she dreamt of someone dear to her dying while she stared helplessly at them, or that she was tortured until she died only to get revived for another torture, or her running away from something. From what? She had no idea.

All she knew that these nightmares had to stop before she starts going crazy and paranoid over every single thing. Her nightmares were that terrible that she was almost afraid to sleep. If she was ever lucky at all, she would get at least four hours of sleep at night.

At first she thought that these nightmares only occur at night, so she tried to take naps during the day. But apparently taking day naps does not work. Either way those nightmares will still come to haunt her. In the end, she would end up walking around the sub while everyone else was asleep, or make herself some tea (yes she can make tea), or she would just tire herself out with more training.

She was pretty sure that her eyebags were getting darker and darker, and she was pretty sure that by now everyone in the crew knew that she was having difficulties sleeping. But none of them asked her about it. They probably knew about the cause of her restlessness already, thanks to the gossipy crew. Who knew that the guys could gossip like girls?

Mai let out a frustrated sigh into the pillow before she turned to her back and faced the ceiling. She kept her room dark, not bothering to light up the lamp. If she did, her eyes will feel like they are burning due to her lack of sleep.

_Knock knock_

She titled her head towards the door. "Yes?"

The metal door opened and Shachi stepped in her room. "Captain wants everyone to be gathered on the deck."

Mai groaned a bit before she got up and put on her combat boots. She yawned and walked out of her room, closing the door after Shachi.

"Insomnia?" Shachi asked worriedly. Mai waved her hand at Shachi dismissively before she wiped away the tears that escaped when she yawned earlier.

"Maybe you should go consult Captain. He may be able to help you." Shachi suggested and gave Mai a concerned look that was covered by his sunglasses. However Shachi's expression was still visible to Mai, from the slight frown that his lips formed.

She gave him a small smile. "Maybe another time."

Shachi opened the door leading to the deck. When the first ray of light hit Mai in the face, she cringed slightly. It was too bright for her. She preferred the darkness of the sub's interior.

Everyone else had already gathered in front of Law, who was lying casually on Bepo who was taking a nap.

"We will not go into the New World yet. We're going to wait until the time is right."

"EHHHH?!" The Heart Pirates broke into a chorus of protests against their captain.

"We're not going there yet? Let's go to the New World already!" Shachi bemoaned. Penguin, too, joined in the complaining. "What are you waiting for, Captain? How much longer are we gonna hang around here?"

Mai stared blankly at the relaxed captain. She heard that the rest of the Supernovas had already rushed into the New World, creating havoc everywhere. Personally she did not mind the delay. In fact, she was happy for it. There were too many things happening to her at once recently, and she needed a break for her soul to recharge.

She closed her eyes to shut the sunlight out, but kept her ears open.

Law gave them his usual smirk. "I said we're going to wait until the time is right."

The crew gave each other uneasy looks. Just what did their captain mean?

"Don't worry. The One Piece won't go anywhere." Law said lazily.

"But Blackbeard has already started making his moves in the New World, and there's a rumour that he destroyed a pirate crew!" Once again, Shachi tried to convince Law to go to the New World.

One of the mechanics –his name is Kai, if Mai's echoic memory was not wrong– spoke up as well. "Big time rookies who want to take over Whitebeard's position as Emperor are rushing to the New World!" After Kai said his piece, Sean spoke as well. "There's no time to lose Captain! We'll be beaten by everyone else!"

Law's smirk widen upon hearing Sean's statement. "It's better for us if they're trying to beat up one another. We won't get involved in petty fights. Stop complaining and just follow me. We'll get whatever we want at any cost."

Just with that little speech, the crew's earlier grumbles turned into cheers. "We will follow you forever!"

Even Bepo, who was sleeping, cheered. "Aye aye, Captain! You can count on me…"

"You're sleep talking?!" Shachi and Penguin exclaimed at the bear.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise while you're asleep!"

Mai could hear the footsteps of the crew going towards the sub's entrance. She stood rooted there with her eyes still closed until she heard the last footstep fade away.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Mai?" Law asked her. She opened her eyes and saw Law still leaning casually against Bepo. Shachi and Penguin were still on the deck, and were looking at her.

"… So you are saying that we will get stronger here first, before we go to the New World and fight the remaining strong pirates?"

Law raised an eyebrow at her, before he nodded. "That's right. What about it?"

Mai continued to keep her blank look. "Nothing, except I hope that we really will be strong enough when we enter the New World."

Law smirked again. She really wanted to wipe it off his face, really. She was too grumpy to handle any happy faces at the moment. "Don't worry, we will be strong when we get to the New World. How much longer till we reach the next island, Shachi?"

"If we keep up at this pace, we should reach in less than an hour. According to what we've gathered back at Sabaody, it is a small island, but there's a town over there for us to stock up on supplies. Ryan has been going on and on about how the medical supplies are draining fast." Shachi told Law.

"I see. Then we will stop by for a while. Any idea how long it will take for the log pose to set?"

"Three days."

Law nodded and turned to Mai. "Fight Shachi without your devil fruit."

Mai and Shachi stared at the captain with wide eyes. Mai, because she was confused, Shachi, because he was shocked.

Law had a sly look on his face, one that Mai hated more than that smirk. "I need to see how much of a fighter Mai is. I did not get to have an assessment of it due to her previous injuries."

Mai went back to giving Law a blank expression, before she looked at Shachi, who was already getting into a stance. She raised an eyebrow.

"Since it is Captain's orders…" Shachi trailed off.

Mai sighed and gave a small shrug, before she got into a fighting stance. _Spread your legs further apart to stabilise your stance._

Shachi ran forward and jumped, reaching his leg out before he twisted his body to deliver a kick. Mai held her arm out to block it, and quickly kicked Shachi while he was still locked in position. However, Shachi used his single free leg to jump away from Mai's range.

This time Mai charged forward and sent a series of kicks and punches to Shachi, not giving him any time to stop and prepare his counter attack. _Even when you are on the offense, be sure to keep your guard up and show no mercy to the opponent._

Suddenly, Shachi went down and aimed for her feet. The moment Mai realised what he wanted to do, she quickly jumped away to distance herself from Shachi. _Never lose your footing._

Mai immediately resumed her stance. She could hear her heart beat pounding in her head; a sign that tells her that she was starting to get tired. She panted a bit as she felt a drop of sweat trickle down the side of her face, then down to her neck.

Shachi smirked, knowing that she was already tired. Without giving her any time to catch her breath, he ran towards her, one hand tucked at his side that was going to punch Mai. When he was in range, he slowly reached his hand out to deliver a blow to her stomach. But one thing was weird: Mai was still in her stance. _'Why is she not dodging or getting into a defensive stance?'_

When Shachi's was near enough, Mai reached her hand out to grab Shachi's arm that was about to punch her and swung it to the side, pulling Shachi along. She used her other hand and pushed down Shachi's arm, causing him to yelp in pain. He fell down on the floor face flat, with Mai pressing his arm against his back, adding it to the pain that Shachi was feeling. After a few seconds she let go and stood up.

She looked down at Shachi, who was sitting right now, rubbing the back of his arm where Mai had struck him just now. He groaned in pain and looked up at her. "You used your devil fruit!"

She raised an eyebrow upon hearing his accusation. "No I didn't."

"Then why the hell is it so painful?!"

"I just hit a pressure point, that's all." She said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Shachi frowned at her.

Law watched the whole exchange with amusement. _'She certainly is strong… but probably not as strong as Straw Hat-ya or Fire Fist.'_

"Mai looks strong."

Law turned to look at Bepo. "You're awake?"

The polar bear nodded, not once did his beady eyes leave Shachi and Mai. "Captain, do you think she is a swordsman?"

Law stared curiously at Bepo. "Why do you say that?"

"Back at Sabaody, she carried two swords with her, so I thought…"

Law hummed at Bepo's reasoning. Now that he thought about, he could vaguely remember her screaming for her katana back at Sabaody Archipelago when they were fighting with a Kuma robot with the Kid Pirates.

Law got off his position and walked towards the arguing pair -or rather Shachi arguing while Mai mostly ignored him- Bepo followed after Law. "Mai, do you happen to know how to fight with a sword?"

Mai looked at the captain and nodded at him. "What about it?"

"Why don't you have your sword with you?"

Mai stared at him before she made her wind blade and held it in front of the captain to see, giving him a silent message.

Law sighed, slightly exasperated at the wind user. "I mean back at Sabaody. Bepo told me that you had two katana with you back then."

"Oh."

"Yes. What happened to it?"

Mai frowned slightly. "Kid took it away while he was using his devil fruit."

'_Ah. That explains it.' _Law thought.

"I see. That will be all. When we reach the island come by my quarters." Law ordered Mai and walked back to the sub.

With the frown still on her face, she made her way to the galley. She needed some tea. Besides, she was sure that it was going to be lunch time, and she was on duty.

* * *

Mai was in the galley cutting up some vegetables. Chop, chop, chop, grab another vegetable, chop, chop, chop. It was a repetitive cycle. She could barely hear the galley door opening and heavy footsteps, most likely belonging to either Bepo or Bart. Sure enough, she saw Bart standing a few feet away from her.

"We're reaching soon. Captain sent me to get you."

Mai smiled thankfully at him. "Thanks Mister Bart. He's in his quarters, right?"

Bart nodded his head in confirmation. Mai placed away the kitchen knife and placed the sliced up ingredients somewhere and washed her hands, before going to the second floor of the sub where Law was.

She knocked on the metal door twice, before she heard a muffled "come in". She pushed the door open and saw Law leaning back on his chair reading something, while his legs were propped up on his desk.

She closed the door and walked towards where Law was, stopping when she reached the side of his desk.

"Have you seen this morning's papers?" He asked suddenly. Mai shook her head slowly, not seeing where this was going.

Law took the newspaper lying aside and handed it to Mai. Her eyes scanned the front page of the newspaper, and widened her eyes. However, her expression slowly changed into a tired smile.

"So what do you think Straw Hat-ya is trying to achieve by ringing the Ox Bell?" Law asked her. She shrugged her shoulders and handed the newspaper back to Law. "Who knows what he is thinking? So you called me here just to discuss this?" Mai attempted to change the subject.

Law smirked at her. _'Oh no.' _Mai thought dreadfully. It was that I'm-up-to-something-so-you'd-better-watch-out look.

"As you know by now, everyone in my crew has some basic medical knowledge. During the three days that we will be spending on the island, I want you to come by the infirmary after lunch, starting from today."

Mai narrowed her eyes at Law. There must be something else that he is planning inside that tricky mind of his, she just knew it.

"So… I'm free from the period from breakfast until lunch?"

"I'm afraid not. For the next three days, you are dismissed from your duties in the galley. Every morning you will train with Shachi or Penguin until lunch. After which you will be in the infirmary with me until, well, as late as I want to."

Mai stared blankly at Law. She knew that the whole crew knows about her insomnia, including the Captain because _he knows about everyone and everything in his sub. _She also knew that Law rarely got any sleep. From what she heard from the gossipy crew, he will either spend the whole night reading notes, in the navigation room, or researching about things.

Even though the both of them were close to nocturnal beings, that did not mean that Mai was okay with the fact that she may need to stay up late in the infirmary, studying about medical stuff. She would rather spend her sleepless nights with calming tea or a walk around the empty submarine. It gave her the time to think and lock herself in her mind without worrying about anything disrupting her.

Instead of voicing her displeasure, she did the exact opposite. "I guess that's better than staying up late alone."

Law's eyes widened by a fraction. He had honestly thought that Mai would complain about the hectic schedule, or at least show some signs of displeasure. Instead she was just being cool and submissive about the situation.

Law recomposed himself quickly. "Well then, it would seem that we have already reached the island. I will see you at the infirmary after lunch. You may leave."

Mai nodded and walked away.

"Oh and, one more thing."

'_What is it now?' _Mai sighed inwardly, and turned around to face Law. He held a piece of paper up for her. She walked towards him and grabbed the paper hesitantly.

"That's a list of drugs and chemicals that I need. I want you to get them for me. There's a chance that you will be using them in your studies later." Law instructed her.

She bit her lower lip.

"Get Edwin or Ryan to go with you. You're dismissed."

* * *

After she exited Law's quarters, she immediately made her way back to the galley. On her way there, she was scanning through the list of things that Law needed.

Ammonium chloride, hydrogen peroxide, boracic acid, oseltamivir…

Mai blinked a few times at the list. What on earth are all of these weird chemicals?

She shook her head to rid herself of all those confusing names. She wanted to go to the galley for a quick bite before going on her errand. With some luck, she hoped to find either Edwin or Ryan in the galley, since it was already lunch time.

She entered the galley, which was already filled with hungry crew members of the Hearts. She quickly ducked into the kitchen and grabbed a bun and threw it into the toaster. Toasted buns tasted better than plain ol' buns, even if it was not breakfast now.

Mai grabbed the bun and munched everything down quickly and searched the galley for Edwin or Ryan. _'Doesn't seem like they're here…'_

She then made her way to the infirmary. If they were not having lunch, it was probable that they were still working in the infirmary.

In the infirmary they were.

Mai saw the look-alikes sitting on the floor while reading through medical records, with even more of such records lying beside them. Both of them were too engrossed in their reading material that they did not hear Mai when she entered the infirmary. Mai, having realised this, coughed loudly enough to break their concentration.

Ryan and Edwin looked up from the records. "Oh, hello Mai! What brings you here? Did you get yourself an injury again?" Ryan greeted. Edwin simply gave her a nod.

"No." Mai ignored Ryan's comment about her getting injured _again_. "Captain gave me a list of drugs and chemicals that he wanted me to purchase. He told me to bring either one of you along."

The duo nodded together in understanding. "I will go with her. You have not completed reading the records anyway." Edwin told Ryan.

Mai was mildly shocked at Edwin. She had thought that he avoided everyone in the crew except for Law and Ryan. "Thank you Edwin."

"Did Captain give you any money?"

Mai shook her head. She could have sworn that she saw Edwin smirk. He stood up and looked at her with his blank face. "Let's go."

* * *

For the first five minutes of them walking around town, they were walking around aimlessly. Mai did not know where to even begin to look for the things that Law needed. But if she had to take a guess, it would probably be in the pharmacy.

She turned and looked at Edwin. "So… where do we go?"

He blinked at her. "I was just following you the whole time. I thought you knew where to go."

She blinked at him. "Well, I don't. So where do we find all this things?" She handed Edwin the list of weird substances, and he scanned through it quickly.

"These should be easy enough to find. We should be able to find them in a pharmacy or at a local chemist's." He explained to her.

Mai slowly nodded her head at Edwin. "So we just ask around for directions."

He nodded and pointed at a girl, who looked at least ten years younger than Mai. "Let's ask her."

The duo approached the girl and Mai smiled warmly at the girl. "Hello. I was wondering if you have a pharmacy or a chemist in this town."

The girl smiled brightly in return. "We have a pharmacy! Just walk down this path, and soon enough you'll find it. It's the store with a big red-cross sign. You can't miss it."

"Thank you for your help." Mai thanked the girl, who grinned at her and ran off.

"You seem good with children." Edwin remarked.

"…I'd be surprised if I wasn't." _Since I have a very childish brother._

Edwin somewhat understood what she was getting at, and decided not to comment anything about the topic. For the rest of the journey, the both of them walked in silence, until the came across a store with a red-cross on it, like the girl had said earlier. The duo entered the shop wordlessly.

Mai looked around the pharmacy. It was filled with tall shelves that had bottles lined next to each other neatly.

"Welcome! How may I help you?"

Mai and Edwin turned around and saw an old lady smiling at them. Mai handed the list to the elderly. "We need those things in the list. The quantity we need is written there as well."

The old lady looked through the list carefully. "Well, I have everything you need. Just let me get everything organised and packed. Meanwhile you can make yourselves comfortable, dearie." The old lady said before she disappeared into the back door, which probably led to the storage room.

Edwin and Mai stood silently as they waited for their items, until Edwin spoke up. "Do you know the uses of those chemicals Captain needed?"

Mai shook her head. She doubted she could even pronounce the names of those chemicals correctly.

"Then I guess I should explain first. I heard for the next three days you will be going through training with Captain."

Mai stared at Edwin, waiting for him to continue.

"Ammonium chloride is usually used in cough medicines as an expectorant. Expectorants are substances that help to remove mucus from your lungs."

Mai nodded.

"Hydrogen peroxide is mainly used as a disinfectant, boracic acid is usually used to treat minor burns and cuts, and oseltamivir prevents the spreading of flu viruses in your body."

Mai nodded again.

"You don't understand at all, do you?"

"I do, I just don't remember which chemical has which use."

Edwin sighed and shook his head slightly. "It's okay, at least you have a little background info before your training. Good luck with that, by the way."

Mai blinked a few times. "Thank you, I suppose."

Just when they have finished their conversation, the elderly woman came out of the storage room, carrying two boxes by herself. Without thinking, Mai took the box from her. The old lady smiled kindly at Mai. "Thank you, dearie."

Mai gave a small smile and nodded at her. Edwin followed her actions quickly and took the second box from the old lady, before placing it on the floor. He reached for his pocket and pulled out a small bag. "How much would that be?"

"5500 Beli dearie."

Edwin opened the bag and pulled out some notes and coins, and gave them to the old lady. He stuffed the bag back into his pocket and picked up the box again.

"Thank you for your patronage. Ahhh… how nice it is to be young and filled with energy!" The old lady mused, clearly reminiscing the times of her youth.

"You're still pretty young if I do say so myself." Mai told the old lady light-heartedly. The old lady laughed at her comment. "You two better get going now. Don't want to get your Captain all angry by taking your own sweet time talking to me, now would we?"

Mai stared at the old lady with wide eyes, while Edwin smirked and gave the old lady a knowing look.

* * *

"We'll just drop these off here. Study hard, Mai. Captain should be here any moment." Edwin said stoically as he placed the box gently on the floor, careful not to break the fragile bottles in it. Mai stared blankly at Edwin, waving at his back as he exited the infirmary.

Mai stood in the silent infirmary. The floor no longer had the reports that were piled up earlier. Mai assumed that Ryan put them away some time when she and Edwin were gone.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps coming towards the infirmary. Few seconds later, the metal door opened, and Law walked in.

"I see you're early." Law said as he walked past her, towards his desk. Mai did not bother replying him, and Law did not bother waiting for her reply. "Did Edwin explain to you the uses of the chemicals and drugs in the list?"

Mai nodded at him, before realising that he could not see her with his back facing her. "He did."

"That makes my job easier later."

Once again, Mai did not reply as she watched Law rummaged through his desk drawers, before he pulled out a piece of laminated paper. He handed the paper to her. "Do you know the function of the heart?"

Mai kept quiet for a moment, recalling about the things she had learned in her childhood. "It pumps blood around the body."

Law nodded at her and gestured to the paper. "There're two diagrams of the heart: one external and one internal. Start memorising the parts of the heart. You have fifteen minutes."

Mai blinked at Law and look down at the laminated paper. She almost frowned. She bit the inside of her cheek.

What is an atrium, ventricle, aorta, vena cava, and everything else?

* * *

Oh gosh I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. I've been very busy the past two weeks preparing for our school's youth day concert. I swear I am busier than my parents. On a side note, I'm excited to start on the plot for this story. I have been inserting a whole lot of chemistry and biology nonsense in this chapter. Well, they are not really nonsense but, learning about all those chemistry stuff in school is so boring. But I swear learning about the heart was so interesting. I think Law made me love biology.

Oh and, Selamat Hari Raya to all my Muslim friends out there!

Review?


	10. Chapter 10

Hello guys! I actually started writing this right after I posted the previous chapter (I fear that I will procrastinate or I may have no time at all to start on a new chapter)

Speaking of chemistry, I haven't completed my homework yet. Our teacher is a killer. She flies through her lessons. Like, fly. Zoom. One lesson she's teaching a topic and the next lesson she moves on to a new topic. And the most surprising thing is that none of the people in my class has failed chemistry. Yet.

Moving on!

* * *

Mai tried her best to focus. Really, she tried. But failed to do so countless times. For goodness sake, this is just the second day, and it was still before lunch. Meaning, right now, at this very moment, she is supposed to have training with Shachi or Penguin. However, both of them somehow went missing. She had already gone to every place in the submarine to look for them, but they were nowhere to be found. In the end, she decided to practice her devil fruit powers by herself.

She started her training by doing some stretches to warm up her muscles. Then, she did a series of kicks, splits and back bends. She knew the importance of flexibility, both in the mind and body. Which is why she took it upon herself to train her physical flexibility, and this is already her third year. After three years she could finally do a complete split and back kicks –she had a very hard time improving her back flexibility– To be completely honest, Mai did not know why she even bothered stretching. It was not like she was planning to do physical training any time today, but the habit of stretching before doing any activity was so deeply ingrained into her.

Until there, she was able to concentrate and execute all the routines perfectly. It was only when she started practicing with her wind where she lost all concentration.

She tried making her Wind Blade and wanted to hold it out as long as she could. As far as she was concerned, making the blade was of no problem to her now. She could now summon the blade in her palms within a matter of seconds. The problem came in when she was trying to hold it for as long as possible.

So far, she was able to train herself to hold it for at least fifteen minutes before she lost her concentration all together.

However, when she tried to mould the blade in her palm, it dispelled almost immediately. Mai frowned and tried once again, but it dispelled again just as quickly.

She sighed loudly in frustration. _'What's wrong with me today?'_

She rubbed her temple to soothe the headache that was coming soon if she cannot do it right on the third try. Concentrating with all her might, she summoned the wind and formed the wind blade, but just before she could finish it disappeared again.

"Physical training it is." She grunted and got up from her seating position. She got into position, and started lashing out attacks at the air.

Kick, punch, dodge, swing, flip, kick, dodge, punch.

Mai kept up with the same pace for close to fifteen minutes, before she finally started to feel her stamina slowly draining. She was not thinking about what she was doing. All she knew that she was fighting with a non-existent opponent. She was frustrated by her lack of concentration earlier, and so she thought she would let off some steam by kicking and punching the air.

…Why was Mai so easily frustrated today anyway?

She pushed that thought aside for now, continuing with her lashing for as long as she could until Mai finally felt exhausted and decided to take a short break.

"You don't seem to be concentrating." A voice said from somewhere.

Mai turned towards to the source, and found Shachi and Penguin carrying some brown paper bags with what seemed like groceries in it.

"Sorry if we left you alone, Mai. Jerry caught us doing nothing and gave us the task of buying his groceries." Shachi explained apologetically, with Penguin smiling sheepishly at Mai.

"Oh."

"Yeah… Why don't you take a break while we put all these stuff away? After that we'll join you." Penguin said while pointing towards the sub's entrance. Mai nodded her head, and the duo went inside.

'_Great. My concentration is so bad to the point that it is clearly written on my face.'_

Mai thought silently as she glared on the ground. She really needed to get to the source of her problem or else she will never get anywhere with her training. Although, she already had a pretty good idea of the root of her lack of concentration.

Or should she say roots.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the duo came back up to the deck. "We're back!" Shachi called out as he and Penguin walked towards Mai. She stared blankly at the duo.

"So why weren't you able to concentrate just now?" Penguin started. Mai almost wanted to glare at him. Almost.

"I… don't know. I guess I'm just tired." _'of everything.' _Mai added silently in her head. She thought that she was making it obvious to the both of them that she is feeling very down lately. Down was an understatement. However, neither of them seemed to get the hint.

"Can't blame you. I mean, after burning the midnight oil studying with Captain, anyone would be tired. I can still remember what happened to me back then…" Shachi shivered as he thought about what the Captain made him do on his first day. Penguin shivered too and nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

Mai blinked a few times at the frightened duo. "Was your training session with Captain that bad?" She asked.

"Bad? It was horrendous. A nightmare!" Penguin exclaimed.

"So what did Captain made you do yesterday? And what time did he allow you to go to bed" Shachi asked curiously, ignoring Penguin's outburst.

Mai closed her eyes and frowned, trying to recall everything that Law had stuffed into her brain last night. "He made me memorise the parts of the heart and their functions."

"That's not surprising. There's a reason why we're called the Heart Pirates!" Penguin cheered, completely forgetting about his earlier bad memory with Law.

Ignoring Penguin again, Mai continued to list out the things Law went through with her the previous night. "He also made me memorise the different tools used in surgery, and all the types of chemicals and medicines he has in his storage, and all their uses…"

After she was done, Shachi and Penguin stared blankly at her for a few seconds, before they gave Mai pitying looks. "No wonder you couldn't concentrate just now. Everyone in the crew took at least two weeks to memorise everything, and you've done that overnight? I take back what I said about our training being a nightmare." Penguin said bluntly. Mai gave a light shrug.

"So… is your memory that good?" Shachi asked. Mai shrugged again, not sure how she should answer his question, nor did she want to.

"Let's just start training. And by the way, he stopped teaching at 1 a.m."

* * *

"Pant…pant…pant…"

Mai could hear her heartbeat pumping fast through her ears, and she could feel the blood pumping against her skull. In front of her was Shachi and Penguin, who were resting their hands on their knees, and were breathing just as hard as she was.

Earlier when they started training together Shachi proposed a two-against-one spar, obviously Shachi and Penguin together against Mai. The wind user did not mind the idea at all. If she was going to get any stronger, she needs to be pushed beyond her current limits. And fighting against two –strong– men was perfect for her.

"You didn't tell me she was that good!" Penguin yelled at Shachi.

"I didn't know she was that good! How am I supposed to know that she could last against us for an hour?!" Shachi yelled back.

"But you fought with her yesterday! You should at least know how much stamina she has!"

"Our spar yesterday was cut short when she suddenly did this weird thing and my arm started feeling pain!"

"So? It's just her devil fruit jabbing you, isn't it?"

"It wasn't!" Shachi protested.

Mai slowly caught her breathe as she watched the exchange between Shachi and Penguin. To be honest, she did not expect herself to last that long either. But it was a good sign that her stamina is good, and for that she was happy.

While they were still arguing, Mai heard a growling sound. Shachi and Penguin paused their argument, and the three of them stared at each other.

"I guess it's lunch time?" Shachi said in a shy tone, clearly indicating that it was he stomach that let out the growl. Penguin took out a watch from his pocket. "It's ten minutes to lunch. I guess we can stop for today."

Mai nodded, and walked into the sub. "I'm going to go and wash up first."

She heard Shachi and Penguin replying her with an "Okay", but she did not bother giving them a reply, much less a wave. She walked towards her room to grab her stuff, before heading towards the shower.

She took off her clothes and hanged them on door, turned the tap, and stood under the cold running water. She could feel her skin tingling from the coldness of the water.

She stood still under the running tap. Mai let her thoughts wander to her time with the Heart Pirates. They are definitely a better bunch of people than the previous crew she was stuck with. But her time with them had not exactly been… enjoyable.

Her first week with them was spent in bandages, Marineford and Ace's death. The following two weeks with them past in a blur during their stay in Amazon Lily, with her ignoring everyone while trying to hold back anything spilling from her. After she saw Luffy break down like that, she promised herself that she had to be strong. For who? Herself? She did not know.

That was a total of three weeks with them. Adding in one week of travelling after they left Amazon Lily...

'… _It has already been a month since I've been with them?' _Mai thought, surprised that she did not even realise that she had been staying this long with the Heart Pirates already.

The wind user shook her head and turned off the tap. _'What am I even doing here anyway?'_

No, what is she supposed to do now?

She sighed and grabbed the towel. _'There's no use mulling over that,'_ She thought, _'Even if I want to leave them I'm very sure Law will do anything to keep me on board.'_

Who was she trying to fool by thinking that she could actually do something on her own for once without having any restraints? After all these years, nothing has changed in her life. Nothing at all. _'I guess I need to act fine for a very long time.' _Mai thought dreadfully.

Mai put on a fresh set of clothes, denim jeans and a plain white tee. She packed all her things and dropped everything off in her room. She took her black jacket lying on her bed and put it on, before making her way to the galley.

"Mai!" A voice called the moment she entered the galley.

She looked at the right side of the galley, and saw the usual group of people seated together. By 'usual group of people', she was referring to Jove, Sean, Nat, Edwin and Ryan. There was one more person seated with them whose name she couldn't remember.

Mai took her share of food from the table before she sat with the noisy group. She thought that she could eat lunch peacefully by herself, but it seems like that was not going to be the case.

"So how's your medical training with the Captain? I bet you died halfway and revived after it ended." Nat said jokingly, making a reference to the fact that he called her a zombie. Mai took a small bite out of her food. "I guess you will have to find out from Captain himself."

"Maybe he will. I think you have forgotten my name already, but I'm Kai. I'm one of the engineers in the sub." The man introduced himself. Mai gave a small smile and nodded at him. She noticed that Kai was one of the more muscular looking crewmen in the sub. Everyone else has either a lean build or they are slightly chubby. Kai had a purple hat resting over his blonde hair. The colour combination was very striking to Mai.

"Why does everyone in this crew wear a hat?" Mai blurted out without second thoughts. Her question caused everyone to stare weirdly at her.

"Well you don't see Bart or Bepo wearing one." Edwin replied, earning himself an elbow from Ryan. Mai gave Edwin an odd look.

"Don't mind him. Sean made one of the engines go haywire just now, and he had a hard time fixing it." Ryan explained, and Sean grinned from one ear to the other, looking proud of himself.

"Nobody knows why we're all wearing hats. When we joined we saw all the previous members wearing one, so we just got one for ourselves. If you want to know you're better off asking Shachi or Penguin. They're one of the first few members to join." Jove told her after swallowing a mouthful of food.

Mai nodded without thinking and stood up.

"Eh? You're not going to finish that up?" Ryan asked, looking at all the leftovers on her plate. Mai shook her head. "I had my fill already. Do you want it?" The moment she asked that, Sean took the plate from her. Mai smiled and shook her head, and left the galley.

"She didn't even eat half of her plate." Kai observed. It was his first time eating on the same table with Mai, so he didn't know of her eating habits.

"Mai has a very bad appetite recently, ever since the war at Marineford." Ryan said, looking at the door where Mai had left earlier.

"Ah. She still hasn't gotten over Fire Fist's death?"

"Doesn't seem like it. But Straw Hat was perfectly fine when he came back from the forest with Mai at Amazon Lily, so I don't know why she's still like that." Sean said with his mouth full.

"Give her some time. She'll go back to being her spunky self once she's fine." Ryan ended the conversation.

* * *

Mai made her way to the infirmary. It was by some pure luck that she did not see Penguin, Shachi or Law in the galley. The former two were pretty hungry after training, so she was sure that she would find them stuffing their faces in the galley. To her surprise, they were nowhere to be found when she was in there.

And the latter, well, if he was not eating lunch, then he is either in his room, the infirmary, or the navigation room. She was grateful that Law chose to be anywhere else other than the galley. She was sure that Law would drag her to his table and make her recite out every single thing she has memorised last night. And she was sure that she had already forgotten half of the things she had memorise.

She grimaced a little. "I'm screwed."

"Oh?"

Mai snapped her head and turned around, only to see Law standing in the middle of the hallway smirking at her. _'Since when…?'_

He slowly advanced on her. "And why, pray tell, are you screwed?"

She immediately resumed the blank expression she usually had around Law. "Do you want the truth, or do you want the lie?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about both?"

"I forgotten half the things from last night and I was thinking about how can I leave this place for good, but none of the escape plans seems plausible enough to be executed."

"You are a very honest person, Mai. And I was getting worried about your sense of humour, but it seems like they're still intact."

"Thank you, Captain."

Her reply only caused Law's smirk to widen, and he walked past her. "Let's get going to the infirmary. Tell me, what's the function of the arteries?"

Mai followed behind him. "To transport oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body."

"Except?"

"The pulmonary artery."

"Which does what?" Law prodded again.

"Transport deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs." She answered him curtly.

"I assume you know the functions of the veins as well?"

Mai nodded her head. _'Oh wait, he can't see-'_

"Good. Name the four chambers and the four valves in the heart." Law shot the next question at her.

"… Did you know I nodded my head just now?" Mai asked cautiously. Her question caused Law to stop in his tracks and look at her. "As a matter of fact, I did."

Now Mai was giving Law a weird look. "But you didn't actually see me do it, or did you?" Now it was Law's turn to give a weird look. "Hm… I guess I just sensed you doing it. Now, would you answer my question? Or was that one of the things you have forgotten?"

"Right atrium and ventricle, left atrium and ventricle, bicuspid valve, tricuspid valve and two semi lunar valves."

"So what did you forget?"

"Most of the chemicals and medicines."

The both of them entered the infirmary and Law immediately took a seat at his usual desk, while Mai sat up on the examination bed. Law brought a hand to his forehead as he thought about his next step.

"We'll leave that for another time. Can you still remember all the surgical tools?" She nodded at him, already knowing that he would ask her to identify them first.

"They're all laid out on the metal plate over there. Go name them, and then we will move on to first aid. We need to do something about those bandaging skills of yours."

Law watched Mai like a hawk as she walked towards the metal plate and started saying the names of the tools –which he was not paying attention to– However, he somehow knew that she had named all of them correctly so far.

He had seen how tired she was last night firsthand, and he enjoyed every moment of it thoroughly. Looking at how she yawned once every five minutes after 11p.m was very amusing, and he noticed how she did not rubbed her eyes, unlike the last time when they played poker until it was very late.

Day by day he could see her eye shadows getting darker and darker, and her eyes were getting smaller and were losing their shine. _'Must be the lack of sufficient sleep.' _He thought to himself. Well, she will probably be happy to know that today's session and her last session tomorrow is going to be a short one.

Since he was planning to teach her some first aid, he just had to take around five minutes to do one demonstration for her. If she is a fast learner, which Law had no qualms about, she could learn how to do it within one try. That means that it was possible that Law could move ahead of schedule.

"Now what?" Mai's voice brought Law out of his thoughts. He went to one of the cabinets and took out a small roll of bandages, while Mai went back up on examination bed. "We're going to work bandaging first. I'll do a demonstration once, and then you'll follow exactly what I have done."

He sat back on his chair and unrolled a bit of the white cloth and cut out a small piece of it, placing the small piece on his desk. "Now let's just say you got an injury. What do you do first?"

"Wash it?"

Law sighed inwardly. "Close, but not quite. Make sure that there are no objects near the wound, things like rings and watches."

"Ah."

"After that you wash the wound either with saline solution or water. If not, you can let the wound bleed until it stops. The blood helps to clean the wound." Law explained, cutting out four pieces of tape before sticking the end on the desk.

"After that, use a clean cloth to clean the wound. This prevents introducing bacteria to the wound. You do remember all too well how bad an infected wound is, don't you?" Law asked in a slightly sarcastic manner. Mai raised an eyebrow before she nodded her head once at him.

"After you clean a wound, it will be good if you can apply healing cream on the wound to prevent the dressing," Law took the small bandage piece he cut earlier and held it up for Mai to see, "from sticking on to the wound. Even if you don't have the cream, it's okay to just put on the dressing directly." Mai nodded at Law's explanation.

He took the four pieces of tape and the roll of bandages, then pushed the chair he was seated on and stopped in front of Mai, her knee just directly in front of his face. Mai blinked at him, confused at what he was going to do next.

Law placed the small piece of bandage on her knee, and placed the tapes on all four sides of the dressing. "When you're holding on to the dressing, make sure that you don't touch on the spot that will cover the wound to prevent cross infection. After that, secure the dressing with medical tape."

Mai jumped a bit when she felt Law grabbing the back of her knee, pulling her forward. She got the hint immediately, and pushed herself forward so that there was same space in between the back of her knee and the examination bed.

Law started unrolling more bandages. Once there was enough, he wrapped the material around her knee, unrolling more of the bandage in the process. "After you apply the dressing, wrap the bandages around the wound completely. Make sure it is not too tight to cut off blood circulation."

Law took out a metal clip and fastened the loose end of the bandage. "Done. Now you try." He tossed her the roll of bandages. She caught it with ease and looked at it with slight hesitation.

Few seconds later she managed to gather her nerves and pushed herself off the examination bed. She walked towards Law's desk and cut out a small piece of cloth for the dressing and took four pieces of medical tape, just like what he had done earlier.

Law watched on as she did exactly what he had done earlier. When she had gathered everything and stopped in front of him, he had to control the urge to grin. Instead of grinning, he stared at her with a straight face. "Is something the matter?"

"… Can I do it on your arm instead?"

He raised an eyebrow. That was what she was worried about? The only female in his crew is certainly highly amusing.

Law gave a slight shrug. "If that's what you want, go ahead."

Mai placed the roll of bandages on the examination bed, before rolling up Law's sleeve. She was sure that he did not roll in up on purpose. Being mindful about where she held the dressing, she stuck the dressing at a random spot on his arm. She taped the dressing on all four sides and reached for the roll of bandages on the bed.

She started rolling the bandage around his arm in a slow motion. While she did that, she looked at his tribal tattoos. She knew that he had 'DEATH' tattooed on his knuckles and some weird tattoo design on his hand. But she never noticed that he has actually tattooed his arm as well. _'I wonder if he tattooed his other arm too.'_

While she was rolling the cloth over and over again she did her best to keep her face straight while admiring his tattoos under Law's piercing gaze.

When Mai had finally covered the dressing with the bandage, she reached out to grab a pin and secured the loose end of the bandage. Mai looked up to Law, who in turn tried moving his arm. Few seconds later he nodded in approval.

"Good. Now are there any questions that you have?"

Mai asked immediately. "What happens when you get a wound that needs bandaging, but at that point of time it's not accessible? Like during a battle?"

"Tear the cloth from your clothes."

"… Oh."

* * *

It was close to 7 p.m. Mai had been staying inside the infirmary ever since lunch and Law continued stuffing skills and notes in to her head. The captain was relentless and unforgiving when it came to anything medical.

Just within the five hours –or was it six?– that she had been in the infirmary, he had made her learn how to bandage properly, how to conduct CPR (which had been very embarrassing for her), how to use the AED, how to inject needles to take blood samples and for IV drips. The last two was the scariest part, since she could not trust herself to poke a needle through someone safely in a proper manner.

A knock came from the door while Law was explaining to her about some machine. She was not really paying attention to a single thing he was saying.

"Come in." He ordered.

The metal door opened and Shachi stayed rooted at where he was. "Captain, we got some information about the next island, so we figured that we should have a meeting to discuss about our next course of action."

Law took a second to digest the information, before he nodded. "Gather in the navigation room."

Shachi nodded and gave Mai a look, before he closed the door and walked off. Law turned to Mai. "We have covered a lot of ground today, so we will end today here." He walked out of the infirmary hastily, leaving Mai all alone in the room.

A few seconds after Law left, Mai stood up from her sitting position on the floor and walked out of the infirmary. It felt nice to finally be walking out of that stuffy room after many hours of first aid stuff. She was starting to wonder how she survived being in the same as Law for more than ten minutes.

Mai walked aimlessly around the sub, making any turns at intersections. Before she knew it, she found herself in front of the galley doors. _'Huh… I guess I need food.' _

She pushed the doors and walked into the empty galley. Dinner was usually at 6 p.m., so Mai was not surprise to see that the galley was empty and quiet, save for Jerry, Karl and Dyve who were in the kitchen cleaning up.

"Hi Mai! The Captain treating you good today?" Karl walked out of the kitchen, rum bottle in one hand, a bowl of soup with bread in the other. He sat down on one of the long tables and patted on it. "C'mon. I know you don't eat much." Mai blinked. She almost smiled at his thoughtfulness. She sat opposite of Karl and started tearing pieces of bread, dipping them into the soup before eating it.

"So, how are your studies?"

"Okay, I guess."

"You look tired."

Mai did not reply. She looked tired? She felt dead.

"What are you going to do after tomorrow? You won't be studying with Captain after that, right?"

Mai nodded, and took another bite out of her bread. "Train a lot, get stronger."

Karl grinned at her. "I see, I see. How about a little arm wrestle from time to time?"

Mai gave Karl a weird look. He wanted to arm wrestle with her? Not that she minded but… "Okay."

For the rest of the time Mai was eating her soup-dipped bread and drinking up whatever is left, she listened on as Karl told her about some stories about their crew. Whenever he asked her questions, she will give very short answers, and he did not ask her to elaborate. Mai realised that all of them love doing that, telling stories about their crew, that is.

She finished the last bit of her soup, and was about to bring the utensils in to the sink. Karl stopped her. "Let me do this. You can go back to your room and rest."

Mai shook her head and continued walking, placing the bowl and plate into the sink. Jerry happened to be washing some cooking utensils then. "Ah, Mai! I hope ya have eaten well. Leave those there, I'll wash them later."

Mai nodded and placed the utensils where Jerry had gestured to, and went back to her room. The moment she got there, she threw herself onto the bed. She closed her eyes, and what seemed like few seconds later, her eyelids started to feel heavy.

"_Hey Luffy, did you know? Legends say that when someone passes on, they become a star in the sky, and will watch over those important to them."_

"_Really? But that means that they can only watch over at night! Stars don't come out when it's bright!"_

"_Even when it's daytime now, the stars are still there. They sky is too bright for the stars to be seen now. So even if we can't see them, they can see us."_

"_Mai?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Do you think Sabo became a star and is watching over Ace and I?"_

_She smiled and patted him on the head._

"_I'm sure he did."_

* * *

Guys, I think I finally know why Shachi was named Shachi. In Japanese, Shachi means killer whale. So put a killer whale with Penguin… *gasps* Actually I don't really see the connection but I thought it was funny that 2 members of the Heart Pirates are named after aquatic animals. I wonder if there's more. That'll be hilarious, it can be a running gag!


	11. Chapter 11

QuestionsxAndxAnswers: Thank you!

iiILurvePancakesii: That was exactly what I was thinking about xD I wanna hug Mai too and make her feel all better. But don't worry, after this chapter, Mai will start to feel better again, then you can hug her!

Guest: Hello there! Law definitely recruited from the poles. Otherwise where did he recruit Bepo from?!

Imafangirlforever: Shachi means killer whale my dear friend. You read wrong xD (But I think you probably realised it but you were too darn lazy to correct yourself) And yeah, you're not the only one who found it weird that after one big crying and screaming session, Luffy's back to eating normally. And by normal, they meant a mountain of food.

You couldn't believe how panicked I was when my computer shut down by itself all of a sudden, and I couldn't switch it back on no matter how many times I pressed the on button. Thank goodness my mum came to the rescue (even though I'm more computer literate than her).

* * *

Mai did not know whether she should kill Law or not. That bastard of a captain decided to wake her up by banging her door until she opened it. Not a good way to start the day. Oh, did she mention that he woke her at 5 just to finish up whatever was left for him to teach her? Not pleasant.

Law told her that he did it so that they could leave the island on time. He did not want to waste any time on an island as boring as this one. So from 5.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m., Mai was feeling very cranky from her insomnia and the lack of anything in her stomach. Just because her stomach is smaller than usual nowadays does not mean that she could go on without breakfast!

Thankfully, her last four hours of medical torture with Law came to an end rather quickly, after which she immediately went to get some food.

Right now she's just sitting on the deck practicing one of the techniques she did back on Sabaody Archipelago, while fighting with the Kuma robot: Pressure.

She thought that since she had better control over her devil fruit power than before, she figured that maybe she could see whether the training helped to improve her other techniques. She thought right.

Now that her control is better, she found it easier to control the wind from a further distance, and she is now able to create stronger winds than before. That was a good step towards getting stronger.

After a bit of changing the direction and speed of the wind, she went back to practice her wind blade. She was pretty sure that she could hold it for half an hour straight now, but that was only if she was just sitting down and doing nothing. She had never got the opportunity to use that technique in combat before, and Mai was not going to wait until there will be someone to fight with. She needed to improve and perfect her techniques in the shortest time possible.

She stood up and formed the blade in her right hand, and proceeded to perform all of the Ittoryu techniques she knew, and repeated the whole cycle of slashes, turns and thrusts. Just as she had expected, she could not last to the maximum half an hour. _'That was at least fifteen minutes… I have more work to be done.' _

Mai took a quick break, before she did the routine for the second time.

Unbeknownst to the wind user, a certain purple hat-wearing blonde Heart Pirate was watching her as she did her routine two times in a row. After Mai had finished her second routine, Kai went up to her. Before he could open his mouth and compliment her, she turned around and looked at him. "Is there something you need?"

Kai was stunned for a moment. He was sure that Mai could not see him, and she was too absorbed in her training to notice him. "You're very strong." He blurted out.

Her blank expression did not falter when he complimented her. "Maybe." _'But definitely not strong enough,' _She thought.

Their conversation was interrupted when Penguin came up to the deck. "Kai! Captain wants us to load up the remaining supplies. We're setting sail in three hours' time." Kai nodded at Penguin and went into the town.

Penguin looked at Mai. "Do you want to help out?" He asked, and corrected himself immediately. "I-I mean you don't have to or anything!" He stuttered. Mai shrugged. She did not see any reason to not help. "What do I do?"

"Kai and the others have gone to the stores to collect our orders. They will come back and go to get more stuff, so all we need to do is load them in the sub."

Mai nodded and stayed rooted on the deck.

A few seconds later Penguin pointed at the town's direction. "The first crate is here. Let's get going."

* * *

Mai carried her last box into its respective storage room, and placed it down gently on an empty space. Shachi came in after her, and placed it on a spot next to her.

"Well, we're done with a little more than two hours to spare. What are you going to do?" He asked Mai. She pondered over his question for a moment.

Without second thoughts, she replied. "I'll go into town for a while."

Shachi looked at her weirdly. "Why do you want to go there? Is there something you need to get?"

Indeed, what made she want to go there? Mai replied him with the simplest excuse she could think of at the moment. "I just want to take a walk for a while. I should be back within an hour."

Shachi nodded at her and decided not to question her motives. He thought that she just wanted some quiet time on land for herself before they left the island. After Shachi acknowledged her, Mai left the sub for the town.

Mai walked straight down the main path of town, not once taking any turns into the smaller paths. She planned to keep her route as simple as possible, so that she could find her way back to the submarine easily.

While she was walking Mai observed the actions and expressions of the people she walked passed by. All of the residents here do not seem wealthy, nor do they look poor. They all look fairly normal, and they seemed happy with it.

The market was filled with people doing their grocery shopping, couples holding hands while they are out on their dates, children laughing and smiling heartedly with the simplicity of their lives. Everyone here seemed content with the way they are now. Whoever the town mayor is must be doing a very good job in keeping his people happy.

Mai passed by the pharmacy she and Edwin went two days ago, and saw the same old lady sweeping the floor in front of the shop. She went up to the old lady. "Do you need some help?"

The old lady stopped sweeping for a moment a looked at Mai. "Why, if it isn't you, dearie! Just hold on for a moment, I will finish this up then we can go inside and have a cup of tea!"

Mai looked at the old lady in bewilderment. She expected the old lady to ask her to help with the rest of the cleaning, or maybe clean while talking to Mai. She was not expecting to get herself invited to a tea session.

After a few more sweeps, the old lady placed the broom on the wall of the pharmacy and ushered Mai in. "Come in, come in! The shop is closed today, so feel free to make yourself at home!"

Mai followed the elderly as she led her to the backroom of the pharmacy, which turned out to be a small apartment.

"It's easier to look after the shop this way. Have a seat! I'll go make some tea for the both of us. Any preferences for you, dearie?" The old lady offered kindly. Mai shook her head. The elderly woman stood there for a moment and hummed, as if she was thinking of something.

"Hmm… I think I have something that can help you. Just wait over there, dearie!" The old lady told Mai, and went into the small kitchen to prepare the tea.

Mai looked around the apartment. It was very neat and tidy. The elderly woman did not have many possessions and furniture in her home. Just a simple futon mattress folded and neatly placed at a corner, a small drawer, and a small table with cushions on the floor in the middle of the apartment. Mai settled down in one of the cushions and crossed her legs Indian style.

After a few minutes of staring into thin air, the elderly woman came back with a traditional teapot and two teacups on a tray. She placed the tray on the table, and poured the golden-yellowish liquid into the cup. She gave one to Mai and took the other for herself.

"Chamomile tea. It's great for reducing anxiety and removing toxic from your body. But it's most popular for being a great insomnia remedy. You have eye shadows too dark for someone as young as you. I'm sure this will help you to sleep better." The elderly woman explained, and took a sip of the tea.

Mai looked at the concoction, then at the old woman. She gave a grateful smile, and took a sip as well. "Thank you, Miss…"

"Marie Blackwood, dearie. But you can call me aunty if you'd like!"

Mai smiled once again. "Thank you, aunty. The tea is delicious."

Marie gave Mai a playful grin. "Why of course it is! Those herbs that I used are home grown!" She gave a small laugh, before she continued. "Now, tell me, dearie, what is troubling you?"

Mai snapped her head up and looked at Marie with wide eyes. _'Old people and their wisdom…' _She silently cursed. Mai bit the inside of her cheek and looked down. Without waiting for Mai to answer, Mare continued on.

"Perhaps you have lost someone dear to you?"

"…" Mai nodded her head.

"And that's what causing your insomnia, isn't it?"

Mai nodded again. From the corner of her eye, Mai could see the older woman taking another sip of tea.

"You know, dearie, in life, people come and go. Some may leave earlier than the others, but we don't have the luxury of taking years to get over our lost ones."

"…I know."

"Do you now? If he sees you unhappy in life, do you think he will be able to rest in peace?"

Marie's words struck Mai hard in the head. _'That's right… If Ace sees me like this, he won't be able to be at ease…'_

Marie continued. "We have to continue living without them, and make the best out of what we have now. Tell me, dearie. What is it that you have now?"

Mai frowned at the question. "To be honest, I don't know."

"Are you not part of a pirate crew? They are someone to protect, aren't they?"

Mai thought about it, and slowly nodded her head. She was still unsure of Marie's question.

"Dearie, just one more question."

"… What is it?"

"Ever since you lost him, have you cried?"

Mai frowned again and shook her head. "No, why?"

The elderly woman let out a small smile and shook her head. "Try it sometime when you're alone. You'll be surprised how much better you'll feel after that."

Mai blinked at her. "Okay."

Marie drank the rest of her cup, and Mai realised that she had to finish half her cup. The older woman noticed this and chuckled. "Take your time, dearie. I need to go and get something." She stood up, and took the teapot, cup and tray back into the kitchen. After that Mai heard the sound of metal and glass clashing against one another.

Marie came out of the kitchen with a plastic container. She then went to the drawers and opened one of them, and took out two swords. Mai was puzzled by her actions, and watched as she brought the two –or should she say three– items to the table. Mai had finished her tea by then.

The old lady gave the plastic container to Mai. "Place a tablespoon of these dried chamomile into boiling water. Drink them every night before you go to sleep."

Mai widened her eyes in shock. "But-"

Marie cut her off by shaking her head. "Young people like you need to get as much sleep as you can!"

"I'm nineteen, and I feel old."

"But you're definitely younger than me, so no complaining. You will drink chamomile tea every night whether you like it or not." Marie chastised her playfully, and brought the two swords on the table. "I want you to have these."

Now that Mai had a closer look, she noticed that they were actually katana. The two katana in question were the opposite of each other. One had a black tsuka and saya, the other had a white tsuka and saya. The tsuba of both katana were black and had a wheel design. Both of the katana were tied together at the saya with a long black cord. The remaining length of the cord was to be tied up on the user.

Mai was now beyond confused by Marie's actions. She seemed to be treating a stranger like her a tad bit too nice. First she gave some advice, then an insomnia remedy, and now two blades? Or maybe Marie was really just an old lady who wanted to help the younger generation?

Mai asked one simple question. "Why?" Why help her?

At Mai's question, Marie's face turned solemn. "You remind me of my daughter."

Mai widened her eyes.

"This twin katana, Tenbinza, was once used by my father. My husband and I thought that we could teach her the way of the sword when she turns three, and when she is old enough I would give this to her. But he left just before she was born, to become a pirate."

Mai kept silent as she listened to the older woman.

"But just when she was two, an epidemic struck our town, and there was no cure for it. My daughter was one of the many who died."

'_If she died at the age of two, then how…?' _Mai's thoughts trailed away as Marie continued.

"You look exactly how I imagined my daughter to be when she grows up." Now, Marie smiled at Mai.

Mai bit her bottom lip. After listening to the elderly's story, there was no way she could refuse Marie's request. Mai almost hated that soft side of her. "I… see."

Marie smile brightened. "So, I want you to take these, and use them to protect those dear to you. It's high time that my father's Tenbinza is put into use again. It has been sleeping in my drawer for more than thirty years now!" She joked.

Mai gave a small smile to Marie, and received the blades. She tied the black cord around her waist.

The elderly clapped her hands together when she realised that she wanted to ask Mai something. "Tenbinza means Libra, so naturally it will work well with those born under the Libra horoscope, or horoscopes that go together with Libra. Tell me, dearie, when is your birthday?"

"Twenty-third of October. I'm a Libra."

Marie nodded her head in approval. "I see, that's good! Then you should have no problems in mastering Tenbinza."

Mai smiled in appreciation. "I should get going now. I don't want to worry the others."

"Take good care of Tenbinza, dearie. It's a meito. Too be exact, it's one, no, two of the twenty-one Great Grade Swords, so expect a lot of people chasing after it! The white one is named Tenbin, and the black one is named Binza. So put the both of them together, you get Tenbinza!" Marie chuckled, and went to get something from her drawer again. She took out a wooden box, and handed it to Mai.

She almost dropped it. _'For something this small, why is it so heavy?!'_

"Be careful now, dearie. That is a polishing kit for your Tenbinza. All the parts are labelled and there is an instruction manual in there to help you."

"I-I see… Thank you, aunty."

"Oh and, Mai? One last thing before you go."

Mai looked at Marie in shock. _'Since when did I tell her my name?' _She thought.

Marie grinned at Mai's appalled look. "You may want to check your bounty poster, and perhaps get a disguise for yourself. Being a sister of both the son of the Pirate King and the son of Dragon makes you infamous, even if you have done nothing wrong."

Mai took a few seconds to digest what Marie had just said, before she laughed.

She laughed!

"I like the way I am now, and I don't want to hide myself. But thank you, aunty. I will get going now. I will take good care of Tenbinza and drink your chamomile tea every night before bed. You take care of yourself too!"

Marie laughed along with Mai. "I will Mai, I will."

* * *

Shachi was relaxing on the deck with Penguin when they heard footsteps approaching the sub. They turned around and saw Mai carrying a wooden box with a plastic container placed on top, and the twin katana strapped on her waist.

"What the hell?! You told me that you were going for a walk, not a shopping trip!" Shachi exclaimed when he saw all of the objects.

Mai grinned at him, causing both Shachi and Penguin to look at her weirdly. "I did go for a walk, and perhaps had tea with the local pharmacist."

Penguin stared at the two containers. "What's inside those?"

"The wooden one is a polishing kit for Tenbinza. The plastic container has dried chamomile in it."

Shachi raised an eyebrow, but it was hidden by his cap and sunglasses. "Tenbinza?"

Penguin continued after Shachi. "Dried chamomile?"

Mai gestured to the twin katana on the left side of her waist. "That's Tenbinza. The dried chamomile will be used for tea."

Shachi and Penguin nodded in understanding. Then, Shachi realised something. "You couldn't have gotten all of that for free! What kind of deal did you make with… the local pharmacist or whoever you were with?!"

"She gave me this in exchange of taking good care of Tenbinza and drinking chamomile tea every night before bed."

"You can't be serious." Shachi deadpanned.

"I am, Shachi. I am." After she said that, she did not wait for their reply and went straight to her room and locked her door.

She buried her face in the pillow and cried while smiling.

* * *

Just to clarify the terminology of katana parts:

Tsuka: handle

Tsuba: guard

Saya: scabbard (The thing to sheath the katana in)

Mai is finally back! I'm so happy :') But but but she has only been sad and depressed for about four chapters. Is that amount of time too short for Mai to recover? What do you think?


End file.
